The Dark Shadow of Peace
by The Emerald's Edge
Summary: Kiminoru Kaishien, an exiled Shinobi from a subterranean village saves the life of an heiress to a small ninja village. After discovering that the same people who are hunting him are also after the heiress he chooses to protect her for as long as he can.
1. It All Began By Chance

Forty-eight years ago there was a war. Now war has broken out plenty of times between the shinobi nations and blood and death were a common part of a ninja's life. This war however like many others was between two shinobi villages, the mountain village of Odore and the subterranean village Muerte.

These two villages had been at constant war with one another for as long as they existed, but their battles have never gone beyond their own borders. While an emissary convoy was traveling between Odore and the hidden leaf village of Konoha several assassins attacked killing the emissaries and the Konoha shinobi that were escorting it, one of which was a close friend of the third Hokage of Konoha. When news of this reached the Hokage's ears he declared Konoha's alliance to Odore and Muerte became their enemies.

With the combined power of Konoha and Odore the scales of war tipped against Muerte. Over the next few years the shinobi of Muerte lost battle after battle constantly being pushed back until they were forced to make their final stand at their own gates. Refusing to let their enemies capture their own village the ruler of Muerte ordered his highest ranking shinobi to perform a ninjutsu that had been deemed forbidden for the past two hundred years.

The shinobi followed their orders and invoked this forbidden technique that would defeat the advancing enemies that were breaching their village gates. The jutsu involved sacrificing several people to summon a dark creature from another realm, even though the summoning was successful the demon lord known as Jaakuna Shi was angered by the arrogance of the mortals who summoned him. After destroying their enemies he turned on them and destroyed their village, but that was not all.

"Your arrogance will come at a high price mortals" the demon declared "A curse I place upon your people, those who bear my mark will carry with them the keys to my seal. From this moment on your people will forever be bound to me. The day will come when I will return to this world and when I do I will finish what I started this day destruction and death lie in your future and none of you will escape my judgment".

After placing his curse upon the shinobi of the destroyed village Jaakuna shi returned to his realm leaving the warriors of Muerte broken and defeated.

Barely a hundred shinobi survived the destruction that ravaged their village and silently retreated allowing their enemies to claim victory and ending the war. Retreating to the far end of the continent they built a new village, one that would hide them from the rest of the world until they were ready to wage war once again.

Three months ago Kiminoru Kaishien youngest son of the current ruler of the new Muerte was exiled from the village for treason. Not only did he refuse an assassination mission, but he attempted to attack his own father while he slept. Though he failed in his attempt his father didn't kill him, instead he exiled him from the village.

Just as Kiminoru was about to leave an overwhelming pain overcame him and he fell to the ground clenching at his left shoulder. After the burning pain passed a black mark in the shape of a dragon sitting atop a skull was tattooed on his skin, the mark of Jaakuna Shi. Upon seeing the mark on his son the leader of Muerte decreed it to dangerous to let him leave and ordered him to be captured.

Kiminoru managed to avoid his would be captives and fled from the village eventually losing his pursuers and for the past three months he lived in exile away from others and alone. Now being hunted by people from his former home he continues to move never staying in the same place for more than a single day.

The sun rose high into the sky shining a warming light down on the entire area, a gentle breeze flowed over Kiminoru as he knelt at the edge of a stream filling a canteen. After filling the canteen he poured some of the water over his black hair before brushing it back and straightening it. As he leaned back down to fill the canteen once again his brown jeans began sinking into the muddy river bank and he finally got to his feet and stepped away from the stream.

"I'm running low on rations" he muttered to himself as he brushed the mud from his jeans. "Let's see. I'm just outside the south border to the Land of Fire so there should be a merchant town nearby".

Placing his bag over his shoulder Kiminoru headed north towards the merchant town at the southern border to the Land of Fire. After hours of walking he finally arrived at the merchant town Vinalo, "I've seen worse" he muttered seeing the run down village "Looks like the place was ransacked".

Entering the small town Kiminoru quickly realized that the town was indeed attacked and recently many people were just going through the damage instead of making any repair attempts. "Excuse me" Kiminoru said walking over to an elderly woman who was sitting under a half fallen scaffold "What happened here?"

The elderly woman looked up to him and gave him a welcoming smile "Oh are you one of the shinobi from Odore?" she asked hopefully "We've been waiting for you to come and deal with those bandits that keep attacking our little town".

"Bandits?" Kiminoru muttered looking back at the damage around the town _"These weren't common bandits"_. Looking back to the elderly woman he said "Sorry, but I'm not from Odore, but I'd like to help if I can".

"Oh how nice of you" the elderly woman smiled as she got to her feet "Down this road here you'll find an Inn. Talk to the owner he'll tell you what you'll need to know".

Thanking the old woman for the directions Kiminoru walked down the dirt road assessing the damage of each house and building he passed along the way and there was no doubt that the ones responsible were not common bandits.

Arriving at the Inn, Kiminoru cautiously made his way through the damaged door "Is there any part of this town that wasn't hit?" he asked himself walking over to the reception desk "I'm here to offer my aid with the bandit situation".

The young lady behind the desk looked at him hopefully "The more help the better. The room at the end of the hall to your left is where you'll find the owner. He's already meeting with some shinobi from the nearby village I'm sure he'll be glad to accept more help".

Snapping his head to the side Kiminoru quietly made his way down the hall to the meeting room and opened the door immediately coming face to face with a blonde haired young girl and his heart stopped.

The girl was dressed in white jeans and a dark blue shirt, her eyes were a deep green and her most striking feature was a silver rose laced in her hair on the back left side. "Who are you?" she asked with a calm, heavenly voice.

"Kiminoru Kaishien. Hopeless romantic" he replied gently taking her left hand and kissing it.

"Can I help you son?" the bold old man in the back of the room asked.

Looking over to the old man Kiminoru told him he wanted to help with the bandit problem before shifting his eyes to the other two in the room.

The first was a young man who seemed to be around 17 maybe 18 years of age and had combed back blonde hair and camouflage style clothing his brown eyes seemed to penetrate Kiminoru with a serious gaze.

The other was another young man around the same age as Kiminoru and the girl his red hair was unkempt and his clothing was tattered and so worn that it had lost most of its color.

"Well I'll welcome any help I can get" The old man continued as he looked back to the boy at the front of the room "Like I said these bandits have been returning every day for the past week at first they just took a few things, but this time around they destroyed the town please stop them".

"Don't worry sir. We'll make sure they don't bother you again" the boy at the front of the room said before getting to his feet "Kai, Zetki let's get to work".

The three shinobi quickly left the room with Kiminoru following close behind them "So what's the plan then?" he asked them.

The older of the three and obvious leader of the group stopped outside the Inn and looked at Kiminoru clearly sizing him up "If you're really willing to help us you can prove it by following orders. Can you do that?"

Kiminoru nodded "Of course. I believe introductions are in order though. You already know my name, so you might you three be?"

"I'm Kuma Sousui" the leader said before looking over to the other boy in the group "This is Zetki Kizuku" looking over to the girl Kuma continued "And this is Kai Adel a member of the Royal Family of Odore, so show some respect".

"Royal family?" Kiminoru repeated looking over to the beautiful girl he hit on just a few minutes ago "Well I'll be sure to be on my best behavior then. So where are we heading?"

Kuma quickly told Kiminoru everything they knew about the bandits including where their hideout was located, the only problem was all the Intel seemed too convenient.

"It's just sitting there in the open with no sign of any traps or guards watching the place?" Kiminoru asked before making another glace at the damage across the town "That proves it. These aren't common bandits, these have to be shinobi".

"We already figured that much" Kuma told him "The only thing we don't know is why shinobi would bother hitting such a small town especially more than once".

"They couldn't have caught on to my trail this quickly" Kiminoru muttered under his breath. Quickly snapping out of his train of thought Kiminoru looked over to Kuma "Well we know where they are. We know their not normal bandits, why are we still here? Let's go".

Reminding Kiminoru that he was in charge Kuma sprinted off to the west along with his teammates. Being sure to stay out of sight the group traveled behind as much cover as they could, trees, low lying brush whatever would provide efficient cover. Once they had the bandit hideout in sight they began working on a plan.

"We could use an explosive tag to draw their attention. They'll probably only send one or two people out to check. We could pick them off and wait for them to send someone else out" Zetki suggested shifting his hand to his supply bag.

"That'll only work for one round" Kiminoru said "After they don't hear back from the second group they'll know something's up. If we can incapacitate the first group and sneak inside without alerting the remainder of them we might have a chance to stage an effective ambush from inside".

"What do you think Kuma?" Kai asked their leader.

Kuma was clearly thinking heavily on their available options, trying to decide the best course of action. "Kai think you can run a bit of recon?"

Kai was clearly hesitant on the idea, but she agreed and knelt down on her knees before forming several seals and placing her ear to the ground.

After a brief silence she got back to a crouching position "There's only six that I could see. Their not heavily armed, just a few swords and projectiles. The hole isn't that deep or big so I think a single smoke pellet or explosive would be enough".

"We could just burry them in there, but then again they'll probably make their way out in a few hours" Kiminoru said shrugging his shoulders.

"All right so we know how many and we have a good layout of the place" Kuma began before drawing out a battle plan in the hardened soil with his kunai knife "Zetki I want you to place an explosive tag here at the side of the entrance. They'll send one maybe two guards out to check from that point Kai will restrain one while you, me and newbie here" pointing to Kiminoru "Will quickly take care of the other one".

"Newbie has a name" Kiminoru muttered just loud enough for Kai to hear and silently giggle at his comment.

"Assuming they only send one or two guards out. What then from there?" Zetki asked.

"We infiltrate the hideout and use misdirection and Kai's poisons to subdue and finish them" Kuma explained before looking over to Kiminoru "All right newbie what can you do?"

Making a brief glance at each of his temporary teammates Kiminoru could sense that their curiosity and scoffed "I'm more than capable at hand to hand combat and as far as my ninjutsu skills go I'm fairly decent in the earth and lightning styles, but don't expect too much because that's my limit".

"That's enough to work with. All right you think you can work with Kai to cover the exit so they don't escape?"

Nodding his head Kiminoru set his bag on the ground and gave Kai a confident smile as Kuma and Zetki placed a few explosive tags around the hideout.

Once the tags went off the four of them waited in silence and anticipation for their enemies to reveal themselves.

"Something's wrong" Zetki said after a minute of waiting "They haven't sent anyone out. Kai are you sure you saw six of them? Did you miss count?"

"I'm…I'm not sure I could try again" Kai said in a weary voice.

"Don't bother" Kiminoru said getting to his feet "I'm going in".

Drawing a kunai knife from his thigh holster Kiminoru gripped it tightly and sprinted straight for the entrance to the hideout. "Knock knock" he yelled before an invisible force knocked him back.

"Well that explains a lot" he grunted getting back to his feet "Let's see how good you really are" he muttered placing his hands together "Release" he yelled.

In a flash everything around the four of them vanished and was replaced by a cold, damp, dark room lit by a single torch. All of them were tied to chairs "Ten points for me" Kiminoru grunted as he tried to free his hands, but to no avail.

A smoky voice chuckled from the shadows drawing their attention "I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting any of you to notice my genjutsu".

Their captor stepped out of the shadows and chuckled again as he set eyes on Kiminoru "I guess luck was on my side. I figured the chances of you being further than this spot were less than thirty percent so I've been attacking the town everyday for the past week knowing that I'd find you eventually"

Kiminoru struggled once more to free his arms "Yeah" he grunted "Nice to see you as well Judon. So how we gonna do this? Slow and painful or are you gonna do the stupid thing and try to drag me back?"

"I think I'll torture you before dragging you back boy. As for your friends…" Judon shifted his gaze over to Kuma and his team "I think I'll make you watch me dispose of them".

As Judon turned to face Kai he snickered evilly "Ladies first". Taking a single step towards Kai something caught Judon's eye and he looked below Kiminoru's to see a small puddle of blood "What?" he gasped before Kiminoru jumped him.

Striking Judon with a swift uppercut Kiminoru grabbed hold of Judon's left wrist before twirling under it and using a serrated kunai knife to cut the tendons in the elbow joint of his left arm.

After cutting his arm Kiminoru spun back around and with all of his strength behind him brought his leg down on Judon's neck knocking him to the ground "Next time disarm your captive".

Stepping over to Kai he cut her free before doing the same to Zetki and Kuma "Well that was more or less fun…" he said with an arrogant grunt.

"Don't be so conceited" Kuma said stepping around him and grabbing Judon by his shirt collar and pulling him up "Let's get going".

As the group began gathering their things Kai looked over to Kiminoru and smiled hesitantly "How do you know him?" she whispered.

Kiminoru looked over his shoulder at the unconscious Judon and sighed "Long story. I'll explain another time maybe. For now let's just say where he's from I'm high on their wanted list".

"What'd you do?" she asked.

Kiminoru shook his head "Being truthful? I tried to kill their leader. He was planning something really bad and I couldn't let them go through with it" pausing Kiminoru looked at the ceiling of the cave and grunted "I was a fool to think I could kill him and more than lucky to have gotten out of there alive. But with them hunting me I guess that won't last long".

"They're hunting you?" Kai responded with a mixed tone of disgust and concern "So what are you going to do keep running?"

"Well that's the smart option. If I stay in any one play too long they find…" Kiminoru stopped when he noticed something on the wall behind Kai.

Peering closer at the wall he recognized it as an explosion tag and swore after seeing more lining the walls and ceiling of the room "Look out!" he cried pulling Kai away and shielding her as the first one went off.

Both Kiminoru and Kuma screamed in pain after the explosion tag went off. Kiminoru quickly shrugged off his pain and looked over to Kuma to find him kneeling in front of Judon holding his hands over a deep wound.

"Kuma!" both Kai and Zetki cried.

Judon chuckled again "You're not getting away from me kid. I'll drag you back dead or alive, either way you're just as good".

Judon began forming seals and clenched his eyes shut before stopping at the last hand sign and throwing his eyes open "Earth style! Dark Depths jutsu".

The room got wider and the ground below them slowly began caving in revealing a seemingly endless abyss. "Hehe. Say goodbye…What?"

Kuma quickly jumped back to his feet and grabbed Judon's wrist before wrenching them around his back "Get out of here!" he yelled to his friends as he struggled to keep Judon restrained.

"Kuma!" Kai cried attempting to run over to him, but the abyss continued to open and separate them.

"Go!" Kuma yelled before the abyss opened below him and Judon dropping both of them into the dark depths below.

Screaming Kuma's name Kai looked like she was about to jump in after him, but Zetki and Kiminoru grabbed her and pulled her back before the ground opened beneath her "Come on let's go" Kiminoru yelled as he formed several seals and placed his hand against the wall.

Focusing his chakra into the wall he caused it to collapse and opened a way to the surface "Let's go we don't have time" he called to them as he began climbing out with both of them right behind him.

Reaching the surface the three of them sprinted away from the cave just as the ground swallowed it leaving and empty abyss behind which quickly closed itself after a few minutes.

Kai dropped to her knees tears streaming down her face and Zetki was doing his best to hold back his own.

"We shouldn't have taken this mission" he said angrily "This wouldn't have happened if we never came out here".

"It's because of me" Kai cried "I should've realized it. I'm supposed to be the genjutsu expert in our group and I couldn't even detect it. It's my fault".

Kiminoru remained silent he didn't know what to say, what's more he knew words like I'm sorry at a time like this wouldn't help, but he wanted to do something to comfort her. Kneeling next to her he placed his hand on her shoulder, but before he could say anything Kai wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

The three of them remained in the same location until the sun began setting in the horizon "We should get back to town" Zetki said in a discouraged tone "The air gets really cold around here at night, we'll freeze to death if we don't get back".

Kai stopped crying around an hour ago, but she was still holding onto Kiminoru as if he was anchoring her to the ground.

Zetki realizing that Kai wasn't moving sighed sadly "Kai come on…" Kiminoru held his hand up to cut him off before placing the same hand on Kai's back "Come on. I'm right here for you" he said as their eyes met.

Getting to their feet Kai continued to hold on to Kiminoru's arm as they walked back to town with Zetki. The setting sun behind them illuminating the ground in a brilliant orange light showing a single marker stabbed into the ground engraved with Kuma's name.


	2. Demonstration

"See ya old man. Take care" Zetki said in a false upbeat tone as he, Kai and Kiminoru slung their bags over their shoulders ready to leave the small merchant village.

"You take care as well young man" the Inn keeper said "Once again thanks for your help and my prayers to your friend".

Zetki's tone dropped as he turned away from the old inn keeper "Thanks".

Kai remained silent it was obvious to both Zetki and Kiminoru that she was still mourning Kuma's death from the previous day.

"Will you be going with them back to their village sonny?" the inn keeper asked Kiminoru.

Kiminoru nodded "Yeah. I'm planning on stopping their and seeing what supplies I can stock up on. Maybe stay a night or two before returning to my own journey".

"Well best of luck to you then. If any of you ever return you can stay here for free" the inn keeper told them before going back inside.

After the inn keeper returned inside the three shinobi took one last look at the battered town before leaving. It would be a couple of months, but the town would eventually return to its previous state and hopefully wouldn't have any problems again.

It only took them a few minutes to reach the outside of the village, entering the small forest to the northwest of the town Zetki pointed toward a massive mountain in the center of the forest.

"Our village is at the top of that mountain. Odore"

Running his bandaged right hand over his smooth brown hair Kiminoru stared at the mountain with a fixed gaze. The mountain village Odore, the very village his own people had warred with almost five decades ago.

"Hey Kiminoru" Zetki called from a few yards away snapping Kiminoru out of his trance "What's the hold up? Come on".

"They wouldn't follow me into another shinobi village regardless of how small it is" Kiminoru said reassuringly to himself before running after Zetki and Kai.

Most of their trip to the mountain village was in silence with only a few words between Kiminoru and Zetki, while Kai continued to be silent.

Stopping at a small river the three of them decided to take a short rest before continuing. Kai sat under a tree away from both Zetki and Kiminoru who were standing at the edge of the river.

Looking over his shoulder to his teammate Zetki sighed quietly, he didn't blame Kai for the way she was feeling, but he knew it wasn't healthy for her to stay that way.

Quickly switching his gaze over to Kiminoru a few feet from him he asked "Hey what did the two of you talk about last night?"

Kiminoru had just dipped his hands in the water when Zetki spoke to him. Holding his hands under the water Kiminoru felt a cold twinge surging through the various cuts on his right hand as he recalled the events from the previous night.

* * *

><p>Just getting out of the shower Kiminoru returned to his room and grabbed a small roll of bandages from his bag and quickly wrapped it around his right palm. He had used a short knife to cut himself free of the ropes Judon used to tie him down, but because his hands were tied so closely together the knife had cut him hand several times.<p>

After he finished wrapping his hand he used a clip to hold the bandage together and left his room with his white shirt draped over his shoulder.

Walking out of the lobby and onto the porch of the inn, he saw Zetki walking away from Kai who was still sitting at the edge of the porch. She had been there since they returned and hadn't moved an inch.

"How is she?" Kiminoru asked quietly as Zetki got closer to him.

"Still the same" the blonde haired shinobi replied "She stopped crying, but she hasn't said anything. I don't blame her for feeling the way she does, but she has to move on you know?"

Kiminoru slowly looked over to Zetki "I'll try talking to her. You go ahead and shower if you want" he said before walking over to the edge of the battered porch and sitting next to Kai.

"Hey" he said quietly after sitting next to her.

Kai didn't respond she didn't even move her eyes. She just continued to stare at the ground with sad, distant eyes.

"I…I'm sorry about what happened to Kuma" Kiminoru said taking his eyes off of Kai and looking out at the damaged town "I can tell this is hard for you, but I kind of envy you".

He wasn't looking at her, but he could sense that his words gained a faint reaction from Kai as she slightly tiled her head toward him.

"I've been on my own for a long time. I've never had anyone close to me, or anyone I would call a friend or anything close to it. So it doesn't bother me when I walk away never to see them again or even if someone I just met dies. I've been on my own for so long I don't even remember the name of my own home".

Kiminoru paused to absorb his own lie; he wanted to forget everything about his life in Muerte, from his ninja training to his father. He wanted to forget it all.

"I'm not going to say I know what you're going through because I don't. But I do know I don't like seeing you like this".

Once again he gained a reaction from Kai; he slowly moved his eyes over to her as she shifted her head away from him and to the opposite direction.

"I know you don't feel like talking right now, but I hope you feel like listening. You can't spend forever mourning, if you do you'll begin isolating yourself from everyone around you and once you start doing that the sadness will swallow you whole…And I for one don't want to see that happen".

Pausing once again Kiminoru looked over to Kai and was mesmerized by the silver rose laced in her hair. The way the moonlight illuminated it was beyond entrancing.

Quickly turning his eyes away from the flower he continued "I'll leave you alone if that's what you want…But if you need anything be it a shoulder to cry on or even just someone to talk to you can come to me".

That did it. He managed to get a response at last.

"Thanks" Kai said weakly before turning to face him.

The small tears in her eyes enhanced their deep green color and the moonlight made her all the more beautiful. The sight left Kiminoru breathless for a few seconds.

"Don't mention it" he said with a small smile "I know we just met today, but all the same I'll be there for you if you're feeling down about something".

Quickly jumping to his feet Jay threw his shirt on and gave Kai one last smile before he headed back inside for the night.

* * *

><p>"Well?" Zetki asked bringing Kiminoru out of his thoughts "What did you say to her?"<p>

Kiminoru looked over to Kai and felt a sad smile creep across his face "I told her that I'd be there for her if she wanted to talk".

"What?" Zetki gasped in a completely lost and confused tone "You're serious? That's all you said to her?"

Kiminoru nodded "Pretty much. Sometimes a complete stranger or even someone you just met showing kindness and the will to sit down and help is all someone needs to get past a bad time".

"She doesn't look like she's past it" Zetki muttered under his breath.

"Give her time. She'll feel better by tonight" Kiminoru continued before slinging his bag back over his shoulder "So shall we keep going?"

Zetki nodded his head to the side "Yeah. The sooner we get back the better." Turning around to his teammate he called "Kai let's go".

While Zetki went ahead Kiminoru waited at the edge of the river for Kai to join him.

Once the blonde haired kunoichi was next to him Kiminoru walked along side her as they followed after Zetki.

Just as Kiminoru opened his mouth Kai smiled at him weakly "Thank you".

Surprised for a brief moment; Kiminoru's eyes widened as his mouth hung slightly open.

Looking directly into her beautiful green eyes Kiminoru returned the smile and nodded "Don't mention it. I was happy to help".

Looking down at the bandage on his hand Kai's smile dropped with the sight of blood seeping through the cloth "Your hand is bleeding again" she told him.

Raising his hand up to eye level Kiminoru sighed "Yes it is. Zetki hold up" he called as he got down on one knee and set his bag on the ground.

Turning sideways Zetki called back "What is it?"

After shuffling through his bag for a few seconds Kiminoru sighed again "Out of first aid. Figures"

"Let me see" Kai said gently grabbing his hand and pulling it to her.

While she removed the bandage from his hand Kiminoru felt his heart racing along with her angelic touch "Should I stick my tongue out and say ahhh?" he joked after the last round of the bandage was removed.

"Just hold still" Kai told him with a silent giggle.

Placing her hands together in a praying fashion Kai closed her eyes, remaining completely still for a short time before her hands rapidly began makings several hand signs.

With the last sign formed she held her right hand over Kiminoru's open palm while her left hand rested firmly on the ground. "Secret art. Earth's light jutsu". Firmly grabbing Kiminoru's injured hand Kai focused her chakra using it to channel nutrients from the Earth under them using it to speed the natural healing process of the body.

"Wow" Kiminoru muttered quietly as the various cuts on his palm slowly began scabbing over eventually becoming just scars.

Removing her hand from his wrist Kai exhaled before brushing her hair back and getting back to her feet "There. Now don't mess it up by cutting yourself again. Next time I'll charge you for it".

With a friendly scoff Kiminoru began flexing his hand balling into a fist and stretching it out several times, surprisingly not even the slightest twinge of pain hit him. "Out of this world beauty and you can heal wounds. I'm starting to think you're an angel".

Scoffing at Kiminoru's comment Kai replied "That just may be the worst line I've ever heard" as she walked past him.

"It's true though" Kiminoru said following after her.

The remainder of the trip went by quickly. Thanks to Kiminoru it seemed that Kai had already returned to her original self, she was talking with Zetki again and even laughing now. Kiminoru while still following them kept out of the conversations staying at a continuous five feet behind them.

"Hey" Zetki called back to Kiminoru as they reached the foot of the mountain at last. "You don't have to stay back there you know. Come on up and join us".

"I'm not much of a conversationist" Kiminoru replied picking up his pace until he reached them and then looking up the mountain side "So how far up are we going?"

"To the top" Zetki told him "Its not as far as it looks won't take any longer than a half hour".

"Really?" Kiminoru asked him in a surprised tone.

Zetki nodded "Yep. We have a lift that will take us right up to the village's south gate".

"Cool" Kiminoru muttered as they continued up the mountain trail.

Once they reached the lift station Zetki held his hand out in a showy fashion directing Kiminoru's attention to the dual lifts in front of them. "Well what do you think?"

"Interesting design" Kiminoru replied before looking over to the two guards that stood watch at the lifts "Well to the top we go".

Once the three of them were on the lift one of the guards pressed the activation switch sending the lift up.

"So what's the history of your village?" Kiminoru asked once the lift started moving.

"During the reign of the first Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village a large number of people mostly shinobi under order from the Hokage separated from the village and founded Odore. The group's purpose was to protect the southwest border of the Land of Fire. Of course that was such a long time ago that we eventually became a village in our own right" Zetki explained.

Kai picked up from there "Even though we are our own village now we still maintain great relations with Konoha and have even traded shinobi between our villages to better our relations".

Kiminoru nodded his head to the side "All right. So how does the royal family thing fit into this?"

Kai leaned back against the railing of the lift and took a short breath before explaining her family's history "Shortly after the second Hokage took power the royal family of Odore was established. The man who started it was the strongest shinobi of the village and gained his fame and eventual leadership of the village by single handedly fending off an enemy attack from Muerte. The underground village Muerte attacked us for no reason that's what started the war between our villages that lasted for so long".

"So" Kiminoru began "You're great, great grandfather or something like that was the first leader of the village?"

Kai nodded "Yes. My father led the village until he died two years ago".

"What happened?" Kiminoru asked.

"He was really sick and he died in a meeting" Zetki answered as Kai turned away from them.

"I see" Kiminoru replied quietly "So who's in charge of the village now?"

"The Council oversees things in the village until Kai becomes of age to lead the village herself" Zetki answered.

"And when will that be?" Kiminoru asked.

"When I turn 18 in two years" Kai said staring at the face of the mountain as the lift continued to rise.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the three of them for several minutes as the lift finally reached the halfway mark. Deciding to break the silence Zetki looked over to Kiminoru "Hey remember that Kai told you that Odore and Konoha have traded shinobi between them to improve relations?"

"Yeah" Kiminoru replied in a casual tone "What about it?"

"Well our sensei was originally from Konoha he came to Odore almost three years ago now" Zetki said "He's pretty strong, but he's not much for small talk".

"Greeeeeeeat" Kiminoru said in an uninterested tone as the lift finally reached the top of the mountain.

"Well we're here" Zetki said as the lift's rail slid out of the way allowing them to get off.

Walking over to the massive wall that ran around the village the three of them stood at the foot of southern gate as it slowly opened.

"Welcome to Odore, the Mountain village" Kai said after the gates opened.

Entering the village with the two of them Kiminoru immediately began taking in the surroundings of the village. Surprisingly it was relatively large, much bigger than he thought it was going to be. They entered from the trade district of the city where the majority of buildings were places of businesses ranging everywhere between inns to restaurants and even small fruit stands even an emporium specifically for Shinobi.

"This is the Merchant quarter" Zetki began "You've probably already guessed that though. The center of the village is where most of the people live. And that tall house in the dead center of the village over there" Zetki paused to point at the towering house in the middle of the village "That there is where the royal family lives".

"So that's your place Kai?" Kiminoru asked.

Kai nodded "Yeah. We should probably go inform the council of what happened".

Kai spoke in a sad tone, but she managed to maintain an upbeat presence. "Well let's go Zetki".

Both Kai and Zetki began walking away while Kiminoru was still looking around the merchant quarter. By the time he realized Kai and Zetki had walked off he raced after them "Hey!" he called.

Catching up to them he smiled from the corner of his mouth "Don't go running off without me, I don't feel like getting lost in this place".

"Well keep up then" Zetki fired back.

"We're not your babysitters" Kai continued.

Zetki immediately began laughing while Kiminoru stared at Kai who didn't even turn around to look at him.

"Trust me. You'll pay for that one" he told Zetki before throwing his gaze to Kai "And you…" Kiminoru paused for a moment while Kai turned around to face him "…Yeah I've got nothing".

Kai nodded "That's what I thought now come on".

Following both of them to the center structure they entered the tower and headed for the council's chamber.

Once at the council's meeting room Zetki looked back at Kiminoru and said "Mind what you say".

Pushing the doors open Kai entered the room followed by Zetki behind her on her right and Kiminoru on the left.

Looking at the long table at the far side of the room Kiminoru wasn't the least bit surprised to see that each member of the council was an old geezer. On the center right side of the table however stood a man with fierce eyes.

He was clean shaven and dressed like he was about to go off and start a riot. His flak vest was worn it had clearly seen many battles and his black hair was combed back. His eyes quickly looked over Zetki and Kai before darting to Kiminoru with a frightful, penetrating gaze.

"Where Kuma?" he asked in a drill sergeant like tone.

Kai and Zetki lowered their heads, neither of them wanted to say it, but the truth was still there as much as they hated it.

The drill sergeant sighed "I see. Well at least the two of you made it back. Who's your friend?"

Kiminoru made a slight gaze to Kai and Zetki before looking back to the drill sergeant "Kiminoru Kaishien. I'm a wanderer who bumped into these two and Kuma in Vinalo. I decided to lend them a hand with the town's bandit problem".

"And you've returned with them here. Why?" the man asked him.

Kiminoru looked back to Kai and Zetki one last time before speaking "Kuma died protecting us. Even though I just met them I owe a debt of honor that I must see through". Everyone in the room including Kai and Zetki set their gaze on Kiminoru wondering what he meant. "I returned here with them because that debt cannot be repaid to the dead so I have decided to remain with them until I settle that debt".

The drill sergeant sighed again "So you're a wanderer who owes a life debt? Just how do you expect to repay it?"

"The same way it was given to me" Kiminoru began "I will remain with both of them until I save them from something. As I am honor bound".

"You can continue this discussion another time Reikahn" one of the council members said from the table "The mission has been completed and Kuma's death is indeed a tragedy, but we have another issue to focus on. With the death of the team's squad leader there are only two of your genins left. Which means the team must be withdrawn from the Chunin exams".

"You can't be serious!" Zetki barked "Can't we compete with just the two of us?"

The council member shook his head "I'm afraid not. Only three man cells may be entered into the Chunin exams. With only two of you will not be allowed to enter".

"What if I join?" Kiminoru asked once again gaining the entire room's attention "What if I join on as part of the team? Would that solve the problem?"

The old lady on the far left side of the table began laughing "It would indeed solve that problem young man, but we cannot simply let you join. For one none of us know anything about you. You could easily be a shinobi from another village come to spy on us. And secondly we don't even have any reason to believe you could hold your own against the life of a shinobi".

"I believe a demonstration is in order then" Kiminoru responded "How about I take on the big guy there" he continued nodding towards the drill sergeant "I'm pretty sure he's a jonin, but I'm equally sure I can hold my own against for a while".

The old lady chuckled once again "You really expect to hold your own against Reikahn?"

"You're on Kiminoru" Reikahn said stepping forward "Meet me at the northeastern corner of the village we'll have our little match in the fields there".

Reikahn quickly crouched down and vanished in a whisping sound leaving the council to back his decision "Well since Reikahn has already agreed to it we can't really say anything against it. I have my doubts as well does the rest of the council, but if he thinks you're good enough maybe we'll consider taking you in as a shinobi of Odore".

Kiminoru shrugged "Not exactly what I had in mind, but good enough". Turning to Kai and Zetki he asked them to take him to the fields to meet Reikahn.

Leading Kiminoru to the fields Kai and Zetki approached Reikahn while Kiminoru set his bag on the ground and stretched his arms and legs out.

"Reikahn sensei" Kai began before rearing back and thinking on what she was about to say "Don't be too hard on him. Please".

"I'll be only as hard as I need to be" Reikahn said stepping forward just as Kiminoru did.

Setting himself in a battle ready stance Reikahn said "I hope you're ready for this Kiminoru".

Kiminoru grunted through a closed mouth as he slid his left foot forward at a side angle and crossing his arms over each other at a parallel angel over each other with his forward hand open and his back facing hand balled into a fist.

Closing his eyes Kiminoru slowly exhaled before opening his eyes and his expression changed from his laid back demeanor to a serious ready for anything look. "Let's do it".

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><p><strong>AN.** Well that's chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	3. Résumé

Both Kai and Zetki stood at the edge of the field watching Kiminoru and their sensei Reikahn as they stared each other down, the tension between them was strong enough to make the two spectators feel sick to their stomachs.

It had already been several minutes since the match was supposed to begin and neither Reikahn or Kiminoru had moved they just glared at one another waiting to see who would cave and make the first move.

The wind silently blew across the field blowing small clots of dirt and dust at Kiminoru. Blinking his eyes to clear them of the foreign substance he cued Reikahn to strike.

The second Kiminoru blinked Reikahn rushed forward immediately closing the gap between them to a few inches. Launching his right hand forward Reikahn aimed his strike right at Kiminoru's shoulder.

Once Reikahn's fist flew forward Kiminoru used his open palm to parry and deflect the attack away from him before swinging his back facing hand out from under his other arm and opening it into a claw shaped fist while simultaneously bringing the hand he used to deflect Reikahn's fist back around in the same claw shaped fist.

Right as Kiminoru was about to make impact Reikahn had blocked both of his hands using his left elbow and hand.

Pushing forward and thrusting out his left arm Reikahn forced Kiminoru back and immediately followed up with a swift right hook that Kiminoru easily ducked under.

Ducking under Reikahn's attack Kiminoru countered with curved chop aimed at his underarm, but Reikahn lunged back avoiding the attack.

As Reikahn jumped back Kiminoru quickly reached his right arm around his belt and grabbed a kunai knife, using the momentum from his failed attack he shifted his body in the opposite direction to add force to his next attack and threw the kunai with all of his strength behind it.

Stepping to the side at last second evading the thrown weapon by less than an inch Reikahn retaliated by throwing his own kunai which Kiminoru caught in his left hand before setting himself back in his battle stance.

Sliding his left foot forward at a side angle Kiminoru held his left arm around the right side of his torso tightly holding the kunai in his hand facing behind him. Slowly raising his right arm he placed it level over his left holding his right hand in an open palm facing directly at Reikahn.

"Not bad" Reikahn grunted during the brief pause between them.

Kiminoru didn't speak instead he responded by flipping his open right hand over and flexing his fingers forward telling Reikahn to bring it on.

Falling for the taunt Reikahn gritted his teeth before charging at Kiminoru once again throwing several shuriken at him as cover.

Ducking down to his left Kiminoru kept his eyes on Reikahn and once again used his open palm to parry and deflect his attack before swinging his left hand around with the kunai in retaliation.

Once again dodging his opponent's attack Reikahn twisted his body away from Kiminoru and in an instant whipped back around in full force throwing a kick right at the young shinobi.

Kiminoru didn't have time to block the kick and he was too low to the ground to avoid it, stiffening his shoulder he braced himself for the hit. Once Reikahn's kick landed Kiminoru was knocked to the side, but he managed to lessen the damage by rolling away from the kick just as it hit him.

Quickly getting back to his feet Kiminoru shook his head to the side before setting himself in a different battle stance.

This time around he stood firm with both of his arms curved close to his body. His left hand was still in a tight fist clutching the kunai knife. And his right hand was still open this time his fingers were spread apart from each other holding position right in front of his chest.

Seeing his opponent's change in stance Reikahn became cautious._ "All right he changed his stance. But the stance he's in now he doesn't have any room to block or deflect any attempted attacks. So why is he like that?"_

"Only one way to find out" Reikahn grunted before charging right at Kiminoru.

Throwing a left kick at Kiminoru Reikahn watched closely as his opponent stepped forward and to the side before whipping his left hand around slamming the back of his fist into Reikahn's jaw. Immediately chaining the attack Kiminoru flipped the backside of his right hand outward smacking Reikahn's Adam's apple stunning him. With Reikahn stunned Kiminoru swung his right hand downward curving his right elbow up nailing it broadside against the side of his opponent's neck knocking him to the side.

As Reikahn stumbled to the side Kiminoru quickly stepped around him and repeated the same chain stunning and knocking him to the side again before once again stepping around him only this time he swung the back of his left fist upward and slammed it against Reikahn's temple before using the remaining momentum to swing his arm back around and punch Reikahn in his abdomen forcing him to hunch over.

The second Reikahn hunched over Kiminoru leapt away from him putting a few feet between them as he regained his breath.

At the side of the field both Zetki and Kai were in awe, in less than a few seconds Kiminoru had unleashed a rapid combo that left their sensei stunned.

"Amazing" Zetki gasped after Kiminoru leapt back from Reikahn "He chained all of that into one attack. It looked almost like it was all the same move he did it so quickly".

Kai nodded "Yeah. I've never seen anyone move that quickly".

Just as Reikahn began regaining his focus and straightening himself Zetki looked over to Kai and asked "Hey do you think he might actually have a chance of beating him?"

Kai shook her head "I don't know, but either way this ends he's definitely going to give Reikahn a hard time".

Finally back to his feet Reikahn looked over to Kiminoru to see that his stance had changed yet again.

Kiminoru now stood with bent knees slightly crouched with his left arm curved held tightly in front of his chest still clutching the kunai knife in his hand. His right arm was extended outward still in an open palm. His elbow was bent slightly so his arm wasn't entirely straight and his fingers were once again closed together.

"_Again he's changed his stance"_ Reikahn said mentally _"What's he going to do this time around? Regardless I have to be careful I've already underestimated him enough"_...

Reikahn snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed that Kiminoru had taken on the offensive and began charging towards him still holding his stance only his arms were held back to guard against air resistance.

"All right then Kiminoru, bring it on!" Reikahn demanded waiting for Kiminoru to make his attack.

Once he was within reach of the Jonin, Kiminoru threw his left hand forward in a tight fist adding the speed from his sprint being added to the force of his swing.

Holding his arms up in a cross style defense Reikahn attempted to block the strike, but the force was too great and the impact sent him stumbling back.

Quickly catching his balance Reikahn didn't have time to retaliate, Kiminoru had already lunged forward to continue his attack. Swinging around Kiminoru threw his right leg up as a feign which Reikahn fell for as he ducked under it.

With Reikahn ducked down Kiminoru had the opening he wanted and quickly dropped his right leg to the ground using it as a base to pivot and continue his momentum swinging around again with his left leg held out.

Seeing Kiminoru pivot around on his foot Reikahn predicted his kick and held his left arm up to block it.

Once again Reikahn's block didn't help; Kiminoru's kick had too much force behind it for him to keep his guard up. Once Kiminoru's leg made contact with his block Reikahn faltered and stumbled.

With his opponent already crouched down and now stumbled to the side Kiminoru had the biggest opening he could hope for and rolled what was left of his kick over and around Reikahn's head before returning to a front facing stance and using his open right palm to slap Reikahn with the edge of his hand. Once his slap hit him Kiminoru immediately brought his hand back out slamming the back of his hand against the side of Reikahn's neck once again stunning him.

Leaping back Kiminoru once again placed a few feet of distance between him and Reikahn while he caught his breath.

"I just can't believe it" Zetki exclaimed "He's got Reikahn sensei against the ropes and he's backing off. He should keep going".

"He can't" Kai said.

"Why?" Zetki asked taking his eyes off the fight and looking over to his teammate.

"Because he's chaining his attacks through momentum from his previous strikes, once he runs out of momentum he has to back off" Kai explained "Watch the way he moves. His first attack in this case was a high kick that Reikahn sensei ducked under. Kiminoru used the momentum from that failed kick and planted his right foot as a pivot transferring the momentum to the other side of his body allowing him to give a more powerful kick than he would have delivered if his first hit".

"All right" Zetki said "But he still chained that kick into those two smacks he gave him".

Kai nodded "Yeah. Again he used the remaining momentum from his kick to shift his leg over Reikahn as he stumbled. I think he transferred what was left of his momentum at that time to the other side of his body allowing him to make those two swings, but that was it. He had to back away or leave himself exposed to a counter attack" Kai looked over to Reikahn and back to Kiminoru "At least that's the way I'm seeing it".

Kiminoru for a fourth time changed his stance, this time he was back to the one he started with, with his foot slid outward and his left arm facing back with his right arm overlapping it and facing forward.

"_I think I'm starting to understand his battle style"_ Reikahn thought _"The stance he's in now. It's a medium stance and the way his forward facing arm is overlapping his back facing arm leaves him plenty of room to parry and deflect any physical attack made toward him. His other stance, the short one where he keeps both of his arms close to his chest gives him flexibility and allows him to make fast attacks that he can chain for as long as he wants. And the stance he just used, the long one. That's clearly a stance used for powerful attacks. He broke through my attempts to block his attacks while in that stance. Even if I block the initial impact the force and strength behind those hits still break through my block and deal damage. And that's not all. The way he holds those three stances, he can easily shift between them which means keeping this a fist fight will give him a clear advantage"_

"All right then" Reikahn said pushing himself back to his feet "Time to take this fight of ours to the next level".

Holding his hands just in front of his chest Reikahn quickly made many various handsigns in a second before ending it with his right hand placed on top of his left fist "Water style. Water Bullet jutsu!" he exclaimed before rearing back and spitting a large bullet of water at Kiminoru.

Immediately after Reikahn shot the jutsu at him Kiminoru jumped to his right avoiding the attack, just as Reikahn shot another water bullet at him. Twisting his body to the side Kiminoru jumped over the water bullet in a spiral spin and threw several shuriken at Reikahn before landing back on his feet.

Ducking under the shuriken Reikahn shot a third water bullet at Kiminoru just as he landed on his feet, but Kiminoru bent his knees forward and hunched himself back allowing the water bullet to fly right over him before he used his hands to spring himself back up to a standing position only to have a fourth water bullet nail him right in the chest.

Being launched off his feet Kiminoru flew back several yards before landing on his back grunting in pain just as Reikahn exclaimed "Earth style, Rock Tomb jutsu!"

Feeling the ground below him rumble violently Kiminoru quickly rolled back onto his shoulders at the same time placing his hands just behind them and using the rolling momentum to propel himself back to his feet and jumping back just as several stone arms sprang from the ground and encircled the spot he was just laying on.

Panting Kiminoru looked over to his opponent and realized that he was no longer holding back on him "Very well" he said setting himself back in his short battle stance "Next level it is".

Forming his own handsigns Kiminoru exclaimed "Lightning style, Double Strike jutsu!" Throwing his right hand up above his head with his index and middle fingers extended Kiminoru summoned two bolts of lightning from the sky striking at Reikahn one after the other.

"That was close" Reikahn muttered under his breath "I just barely managed to evade those two. But all the same he's going to need more than a low level jutsu like that to beat me".

Once again Reikahn formed many handsigns performing another jutsu "Water style, Giant Vortex jutsu!"

Collecting the moisture in the air around him Reikahn summoned a massive vortex of water which immediately raged toward Kiminoru.

The vortex was too large for him to dodge so Kiminoru did the next best thing. He performed a jutsu to defend against it. "Earth style, Slab Shield jutsu!"

A stone slab erupted from the ground in front of Kiminoru just as the raging vortex rushed over him, unfortunately his shield didn't have the power to stand up it and crumbled away leaving Kiminoru exposed to the attack.

The vortex hit and carried Kiminoru across the field swirling and tossing him around in its current along with whatever else it swallowed until it dissipated at the edge of the field.

Slowly pushing himself back to his feet Kiminoru grunted in pain as he returned to his feet and returned to the battle field while forming more handsigns. Stopping about seven yards away from Reikahn Kiminoru closed his eyes as he focused his chakra "Earth style, Clay Soldier jutsu!"

"What?" Reikahn gasped as Kiminoru stomped his left foot on the ground.

After his foot hit the ground a pile of earth sprung up and took the form of a bulky humanoid with a shield and sword.

"_Impossible!"_ Reikahn mentally yelled _"That's a B-ranked jutsu. There's no way he's a genin. He claims to have no affiliation with any other village, but there's no way he just picked up a jutsu like that from wandering around the land. Where exactly are you from Kiminoru?"_

Placing his hand on the Clay Soldier's shoulder Kiminoru commanded it to attack Reikahn before stepping back.

Watching the Clay Soldier slowly walk toward him before picking up into a mid paced run, Reikahn performed another jutsu "Fire style, Flash Fire jutsu!"

Rearing back Reikahn inhaled deeply before turning his head to the side and sweeping the area in front of him in a quick wave of flames hot enough to make Kai and Zetki sweat from more than a hundred feet.

The fire died out in mere seconds and the Clay Soldier slowed its advance to a walk. "The thing about clay" Reikahn began as he waited for the Clay Soldier to get closer "Is if you expose it to an extreme heat like a flash fire. It loses its hard resistant feel and becomes nothing more than a brittle shell".

Once the Clay Soldier reached Reikahn and raised its sword Reikahn side stepped its swing and swung his hand out smashing it into pieces.

Giving Kiminoru an arrogant smirk Reikahn immediately dropped it when he heard a loud sizzling sound at his feet. Looking down he saw a bomb tag lying at his feet, before he could react the tag went off in a mighty explosion knocking him back.

After the dust settled around them both Reikahn and Kiminoru were breathing heavily, they were both exhausted. Kiminoru had expended most of his chakra over the course of the fight and Reikahn was still fatigued from the hits he took.

"_I don't have much chakra left"_ Kiminoru said in his head _"I have to end this now"_.

Placing his hands in front of his chest Kiminoru locked them together in a combined fist and focused the remainder of his chakra evenly dispersing it through his body. "Shadow Ace!" he exclaimed before ripping his hands away from each other and charging toward Reikahn.

Keeping a lock on Kiminoru, Reikahn waited for him to get closer, but was taken by surprise when he jumped to the side.

Half way to his target Kiminoru jumped to the side before continuing his charge. During his jump however a clone of Kiminoru appeared behind him following his exact motions to the slightest movement. That wasn't all. With each passing second Kiminoru became a little faster and each move he made another clone appeared mimicking his movements.

Circling around Reikahn, Kiminoru and his clones locked him inside a ring of them and continued to sprint around him until he lost track of the original Kiminoru.

"There!" Kiminoru said charging in toward Reikahn.

Turning at last second Reikahn saw Kiminoru lunging at him, but he didn't have time to react before Kiminoru thrusted his open palm into Reikahn's chest knocking him back.

While Reikahn stumbled back the clones that followed after Kiminoru mimicked his movements and even his thrust punch as they all converged on Kiminoru before disappearing.

"What was that?" Reikahn asked getting to his feet only to have Kiminoru repeat the same process on him again.

Inside a circle created by Kiminoru and his clones yet again Reikahn watched around him intently, he didn't see the original Kiminoru this time around so he had no idea where he was. "So this is the game you're going to play?" Reikahn asked under his breath "Fine".

Closing his eyes Reikahn listened carefully to his opponent, _"So that's it?"_ he thought _"Those aren't real clones. They're not even physical manifestations. There's only one source of sound coming from him. So these so called clones are just illusions, is this some kind of genjutsu?"_

Opening his eyes Reikahn said "Let's find out" before getting hit by another thrust punch by Kiminoru.

Forcing his eyes to stay open as he stumbled back Reikahn watched in pain as the clones of Kiminoru exited the circle at the exact spot he did making the exact same punch he did. Everything was the same, from their speed to their motions and movements.

"So that's its" Reikahn said forcing himself to his feet and staring at Kiminoru through pained eyes "That's a nifty little jutsu you have there, but I've got it figured out. You focused your chakra throughout your body and kept moving at such a high speed you created a phantom trail behind you. That's why what I thought to be clones were mimicking your every move down to the letter".

Kiminoru smirked "Not bad. I'm impressed you managed to figure that out so quickly. But this isn't over yet!" Throwing a smoke bomb on the ground between them Kiminoru disappeared within the cover of the smoke cloud waiting for his chance to strike.

A few seconds afterward Kiminoru appeared a few yards behind Reikahn and at last threw the kunai he held in his hand throughout the fight at him.

Sensing the attack Reikahn ducked down and grabbed the kunai out of the air before turning to face Kiminoru with an arrogant smirk on his face "I say its time we end this".

"I couldn't agree more" Kiminoru replied quickly holding up his left arm and snapping his fingers.

The second he snapped his fingers the kunai he threw at Reikahn exploded in his hand causing the jonin great pain as he stumbled back.

"Its over!" Kiminoru said vanishing as he jumped up and appearing right in front of Reikahn just a few feet in the air.

Twisting his torso Kiminoru did a corkscrew kick, but Reikahn was ready for it and ducked under it and countered by dropping his elbow full strength into the back of Kiminoru's neck as he landed on his feet.

Once Reikahn hit him Kiminoru felt a massive and paralyzing pain shoot through his entire body before he slowly collapsed to his knees before falling to the ground entirely.

Straightening himself Reikahn exhaled slowly as he rubbed the back of his neck "That was a pretty good workout. I'm impressed Kiminoru, but I won all the same".

Both Kai and Zetki rushed over to them just as Kiminoru began stirring "Wow that was hardcore Reikahn sensei I knew you were good, but I never would've thought you could pull off stuff like that".

"He's a jonin for a reason you know" Kiminoru grunted painfully as he tried pushing himself off the ground, but his arms gave way and he fell back down "Of course I'm too tired to get up and give him a celebratory handshake or pat on the back" he joked before trying to push himself up again.

"Here" Kai said gently, offering her hand to him.

Taking her hand Kiminoru painfully said "Thanks" as she helped him up. Looking over to Reikahn he did his best to smile "I never expected to win to be completely honest. Think of that as my résumé".

Staring into Kiminoru's pained eyes Reikahn saw the dedication and gave him an impressed grunt "All right you definitely have the skill, but if you truly are set on becoming a shinobi of Odore you must prove to us that you have no affiliation with any other village and what's more explain where you learned such a high ranked jutsu like the Clay Soldier".

Kiminoru scoffed "As for the jutsu, I've been traveling for many years about eight years now I think. I learned that jutsu while I traveled through Iwagakure in the Land of Earth a few years ago. And the part about showing proof that I have no affiliation with another village. That I can't do. Other than my word that's all I can give. Everything I own is in my bag over there" Kiminoru nodded to his bag at the edge of the field "All that's in there are a few rations, a map, a sleeping bag survival supplies. I've been on my own for years. Even if I did have an affiliation with another village there'd be no record of it after all this time".

"Very well" Reikahn replied closing his eyes and turning around "I'll consult the council on this. I'll inform them of your abilities in battle and what you've told me. We'll see if they will allow you to become a shinobi of Odore or not".

"Let's hope so" Kiminoru said still in pain.

Turning back to face them Reikahn looked at his two students "Until then I want the two of you to take him to the hospital and get his injuries treated understand?"

"Yes sir" both Zetki and Kai said in unison saluting their sensei before he disappeared in a whisp of white smoke.

"I'm going to take a nap now. Night night" Kiminoru joked in an exhausted tone before his head dropped forward and he began snoring lightly.

After he began snoring Kai giggled before telling Zetki to help her carry him to the hospital.

Each of them lifted one of Kiminoru's arms over their shoulders and began carrying him toward the village's hospital.

"I hope the council decides to let him join us" Zetki said as they left the field "Not only is he strong enough to hold his own against Reikahn sensei, but even in his current state he can still joke around. He'd make a great teammate don't you think?" he asked Kai.

The blonde haired beauty nodded "Yeah"…Kai paused as she looked down at Kiminoru as he continued snoring lightly and blushed as she giggled again "Even when he's out cold he still seems like a complete goof".

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><p><strong>AN.** Aaaand there's chapter 3 enjoy.

So Reikahn seems to think Kiminoru is at least worthy of consideration, but will the council of Odore allow him to Join? Or will the reject him?


	4. Truth

Within the Council's room Reikahn was finishing his report on his sparing match against Kiminoru. Reikahn was still in a small amount of pain from the fight, but he had been through worse and was able to shake it off.

"So?" the female council member said from the left side of the table "How would you rate his abilities?"

Reikahn stood firm as he delivered his personal views of Kiminoru's skills "His taijutsu skills are truly impressive for his age. I don't like it, but his hand-to-hand combat abilities are far better than my own, if not for my combat experience I probably would have lost in a straight fist fight with him. As for his skills at ninjutsu they're definitely above average I'd place them between Chunin and Jonin rank. He pulled off several B and C ranked jutsu's without showing any sign of fatigue".

"Such as the Clay Soldier jutsu?" the lead council member asked from the center of the table "That jutsu is unique to the Land of Earth, the only shinobi outside of there that know that jutsu are you and Kakashi Hatake of Konoha".

Reikahn nodded his head to the side "As far as we know, but that's beside the point. I checked his personal effects myself and found nothing that would link him to another shinobi village. He claims to have been on his own for eight years, but I'm not so sure. It's really the only doubt I have about him".

"Without proof of who he is or to verify his claims we cannot allow him to join our shinobi force" the head councilor said.

"Let's not be so quick to reject him" Reikahn said "I have a small liking for this kid and he would be a very valuable addition not only to my squad, but to Odore as well. Allow me to interrogate him and get what I can from him".

"How would you go about that?" the council member on the right center side said as he leaned back in his chair.

"I'll speak to him in private. I believe he's telling the truth about everything except his origins, if I can conclude that he is a wonderer and he doesn't hold any ties to another village would you all be willing to allow him into our ranks?"

The council members exchanged looks at each other before coming to a conclusion. "We will discuss a possible solution. Until then Reikahn you have leave to perform your interrogation so long as you keep it within necessary limits" the head councilor said before returning to the paperwork in front of him.

Vanishing from the council chamber Reikahn reappeared outside the building and began making his way to the hospital.

At the Odore village hospital everything was pretty quiet with the exception of a few janitors whistling while they cleaned the halls and the occasional sound of a file cabinet being opened or closed. Thanks to the strict social policies of Odore there was zero street crime, but a hospital is a must even for the most peaceful of societies.

In room 2-13C Kiminoru was telling a half-true story about a miss understanding he had with the personal assistant to the Fourth Raikage that almost ended with his execution.

"How'd you get out of there?" Zetki asked sitting backwards in a chair while Kai was sitting in the windowsill.

Kiminoru smirked before explaining "Well after that somewhat civilized verbal exchange the assistant was more than ready to crush my skull beneath his foot, but thanks to a well-timed and clever joke I made about the Raikage's brother meal choice the Raikage's brother ordered his assistant to stand down".

"That's it?" Zetki asked with a disappointed tone.

"Not all of it" Kiminoru admitted "After the assistant backed off the Raikage's brother actually offered to pay for my meal which I accepted on the grounds that I wouldn't have had enough money to keep going much longer".

"The Raikage's brother" Kai said from the windowsill "I believe his name is Killer B. Or at least that's what I think it was".

"Sounds about right" Kiminoru said before continuing his tale "Anyway after we ate the two of us got to talking and for some reason he actually found me funny. Which I'm grateful for because I've heard stories about what that guy can do if he's annoyed, anyway we talked for a few hours before I finally decided it was time to leave, but the Raikage wouldn't let me. He actually insisted in a 'do it or else' kind of way that I stay at his estate for the night".

"Yeah?" Zetki asked "I'll bet that was pretty sweet".

Kiminoru nodded his head to the side "It was, but I didn't stay the entire night. Just before dawn broke I gathered my things and left. I left a note for Killer B thanking him for his hospitality and his sense of humor. It was actually the closet I felt to someone up until now".

"Did you ever meet the Raikage?" Zetki asked.

Kiminoru shook his head "Not really. I had a brief introduction to him, but we never got further than that he was extremely busy at the time".

"That's still pretty cool" Zetki said shifting in the chair "You were actually invited to stay in the Raikage's estate for a night".

Kiminoru moved his eyes over to Kai who was staring out the window at the cemetery in the west edge of the village. He could easily tell by the look in her eyes that she was deep in thought almost bordering on a trance.

"So Zetki" he began returning his attention to the genin sitting next to him "Assuming I get to join your squad what kind of training does Reikahn usually put you guys through? I want to know what I'd be getting into".

Zetki opened his mouth to answer, but the door to the room slid open and Reikahn answered for him "I put them through whatever form of training I feel necessary".

Surprised Zetki tried to straighten himself, but clipped his foot around the chair's leg and fell backward while Kai continued to stare out the window seemingly unaware of her sensei's presence.

"Well?" Kiminoru asked "I hope at least one of them is considering accepting me as a shinobi".

Reikahn looked down at Zetki who was dusting his pants off and then over to Kai who hadn't moved "I need to speak to Kiminoru alone".

Zetki hesitated for a moment before nodding his head "Right. I'll just wait down in the lobby".

Zetki turned around and left with Kai not too far behind him, she kept her face hidden, but Kiminoru could see a tear glistening on her cheek as it ran down from her eye.

After Kai left Reikahn closed the door behind her and stood at the foot of Kiminoru's bed.

"I'm going to be straight with you Kiminoru" he began in the same drill sergeant like tone he had been using since Kiminoru first met him "I truly believe that you would make an excellent addition to my squad and Odore, but I know you're lying to me about where you're from. And until you come clean you and I will be staying right here".

Kiminoru immediately looked away from the jonin and at his right shoulder before taking a deep breath. "I…Muerte" he said quietly "I'm from Muerte".

Reikahn narrowed his eyes and even though Kiminoru wasn't looking at him he could sense a mix of suspicion and anger coming from him.

"Even though officially Muerte was destroyed at the end of that war they started all those years ago another village was rebuilt underground. Like everyone in the village once I became of age I was trained to become a ruthless assassin. It was a life I didn't want. Almost four months ago now I not only refused a mission to kill an important Emissary I tried to kill the leader of Muerte".

Reikahn raised an eyebrow as Kiminoru paused to recall his memories "My attempt on his life failed and I was to be executed for treason, but the leader wanted to torture me instead. He sent me into exile with only enough rations to last a single day and only one knife and shuriken. I was given a single hour to flee before he began sending people after me".

Looking over at the jonin before him, but avoiding eye contact Kiminoru finished his story "I've avoided them time and time again and this is where I am now. I've never stayed in one place for more than a single day, but after what happened with Kuma I wanted to do more than just run. He gave his life to save Kai and Zetki and even though I wasn't that important to him he stilled saved me in the process. The man that captured us was going to kill us all even though he was only after me. That's why I decided to do whatever I can to square that debt".

Reikahn stood firm he hadn't moved even the slightest the entire time "Is that the only reason you're trying to become a ninja of our village?"

Kiminoru shrugged his left shoulder "I'm not sure. I know it's a reason, but I'm not sure it's my only one".

"What do you mean?" Reikahn asked.

Kiminoru looked over to the spot where Kai was sitting and a sad smile crept across his face "There's something about Kai and Zetki that I just can't get over. They know almost everything about each other and nothing about me and they still treat me like I'm some life-long friend from childhood. I don't' know why, but I really enjoy being around them and if I think about leaving I feel this unbearable sadness within me. Maybe it's because I might actually have friends for once instead of some crazed assassin looming over my shoulder. Whatever it is it feels nice and I really don't want to lose that feeling".

Reikahn walked over to the window and turned his back to Kiminoru "Is that all?"

Kiminoru nodded "Yes".

"You're training" Reikahn began "The advanced jutsu you know such as the Clay Soldier. Did you learn it in Muerte?"

"Yes sir. I'm conditioned to last longer than an average shinobi so in a fight that comes down to its last rounds I'm likely to win due to my resistance to fatigue".

"You do realize that I have to report everything you've said to the council. And with this information there's zero chance they'll allow you into our ranks" the jonin continued keeping his back to Kiminoru.

Lowering his head Kiminoru said "Yeah. I know. I wish there was someway around it, but there's no way they'll let me become a shinobi or even stay in the village".

Reikahn lowered his head slightly before raising it back up and looking at the sky through the closed window "Let's be hypothetical for a moment and say the council did allow you to become a ninja of Odore. Would you be willing to do everything you were told without hesitation and give up any and all Intel you have on the new Muerte?"

Kiminoru looked over to him with fierce eyes "With zero hesitation. They've been hunting me for three months and I'm tired of it. I could give you layouts and the names and abilities of the village's most prominent members".

"What about its location?" Reikahn asked.

Kiminoru gasped before lowering his head again "That I can't do. The entrance is behind a seal that is constantly moving. The only way to know where the seal will be is to have the leader tell you before you leave or enter the village. That way they can keep the village a secret".

"Do you think they'd try to start another war?" Reikahn asked looking over his shoulder.

Kiminoru remained still as he answered "I do".

Turning around Reikahn sighed "I thank you for your honesty Kiminoru. For what its worth I appreciate your honesty and I would really like to have you on my squad".

"Thanks" Kiminoru replied in a defeated, saddened tone before lying back in the bed.

Reikahn vanished in a whisp of white smoke leaving Kiminoru alone.

Not long afterwards Reikahn had returned to the council and told them everything Kiminoru did…well almost everything.

"Is that all Reikahn?" the female council member asked.

Reikahn nodded "Yes. He says he can't fully remember his childhood, but he is from the Land of Earth. And he's been on his own for quite sometime. He received his taijutsu and ninjutsu training from villages in both the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning and he holds no ties with either so he's just a wandering shinobi with no place to call home".

"Very well then" the head councilor said "We will discuss this matter and give you our decision in two hours. Return to us then".

Bowing to the council Reikahn once again vanished from the room leaving the council to make their decision.

In the hospital Kai had returned to Kiminoru's room without Zetki "Are you feeling any better?" she asked Kiminoru as she sat next to him.

Kiminoru stayed silent for a moment before answering "I feel fine physically, but waiting here for the council's decision is a bit much in the freaking out from anticipation category".

"So what did Reikahn sensei want to talk to you about?" Kai asked.

Kiminoru gave a silent scoff as a small smile crew in the corner of his mouth "He doesn't believe me about being a wanderer. He thinks I'm lying to him about my past".

Kai looked away and back out the window to the cemetery far out in the distance "I know he comes off as kind of a hard person, but get to know him and you'll get used to it. He's really a nice guy".

"I'm not saying he isn't. I've run into his type before" Kiminoru replied raising back to a sitting position "Half of them do it because they feel alone and are too afraid to open up, the other half do it because it helps others become more focused. Like in Reikahn's situation, he acts like that because it got you and Zetki more focused and kept the two of you together through your training. He really wants the two of you to be as good as you can get and then that much better".

Kai quickly looked back to Kiminoru with a surprised look in her eyes "How'd you know that?"

"I'm pretty good with basic psychology. I can read even the hardest person without much trouble" Kiminoru admitted. "So assuming I get to stay, what would my living arrangements be?"

Kai shrugged her shoulders "I'm not sure. You'll probably be given a room at the academy, that's the most likely outcome".

"Bummer" Kiminoru said in a humorous defeated tone "And here I was hoping I'd get to stay at your place".

"Nice try, but it'll never happen" Kai told him "Since I'm to take over my father's place as leader of the village I'm under constant protection by Kaiheitai. They're our equivalent of Konoha's Anbu shinobi. As long as I'm not on a mission I'm watched over by them usually two or three".

"That explains the guy outside the window. I was wondering why he was there" Kiminoru said looking over to the wall on the right hand side of the window.

Kai seemed surprised "You know he's there?"

Kiminoru nodded "Its kind of a sixth sense I've developed. I've been on my own for so long I can sometimes get a rough sense of someone who's trying to conceal themselves. He's pretty good at it, but the glare off of his mask is what drew my attention to him".

"A glare? That's all?" Kai asked in disbelief.

"Yep" Kiminoru confirmed "Judging by the height of the glare and the angle its reflecting I assumed it either came off a crooked or damaged window that was left open or someone was standing there".

"Maybe I should make you one of my guards. It's no small feat to spot one of them. They're the best Odore has" Kai giggled before Reikahn entered the room once again.

"Kiminoru, Kai both of you come with me" he grunted before turning around not waiting for them to get up.

Getting out of his bed Kiminoru quickly threw his clothes back on before following Kai and her sensei out of the hospital.

"Who got me the new clothes?" Kiminoru asked catching up with them. He was in fresh attire consisting of grey shirt and tan jeans and matching shoes.

"I did" Reikahn replied "Regardless of what the council decides you should at least look presentable".

"Thank you sir" Kiminoru said sliding his right hand halfway inside his pocket.

Neither of them said anything until they arrived at the council's chambers where Zetki was already waiting.

"Step forward Kiminoru" the head council member ordered in a casual yet demanding tone.

Stepping forward until he was in the center of the room Kiminoru waited for their decision as every muscle in his body tensed up.

"You're skills in combat cannot be denied. They are truly impressive and you showed a strong sense of duty and the willingness to assist others when you aided our squad in Vinalo" the council member looked over to Reikahn for a brief moment before returning his eyes to Kiminoru "And your honesty toward Reikahn about your past we've come to our final decision".

Kiminoru stood firm and unwavering, but inside in his mind he was screaming in disappointment he knew they were going to reject him.

The head councilor reached down on his desk and threw something to Kiminoru who gasped silently before catching up. Holding it in his hands his eyes widened when he noticed it was the headband of the Odore shinobi. It was a silver colored headband and the symbol of a towering mountain.

"By a vote of three to two we welcome you as a genin of Odore" the council head finished before sitting down allowing the female councilor at the end of the table to take over.

"You will be under Reikahn's command now and we expect you to follow his instructions as your squad leader and superior".

"Yes ma'am" Kiminoru said placing the headband around his neck and tying it.

The councilor at the far right end of the table spoke next "The Chunin exams begin in three month's time. Reikahn has trained both Kai and Zetki well, but he is relentless and will continue to push them as well as you. You are the only squad we are sending to the Chunin exams this year so you'd better train well and make our village the best out there".

Stomping his right foot next to his left Kiminoru stood straight at attention "Yes sir" he acknowledged in a unwavering tone.

With the decision finalized the council members returned to their work while Reikahn took his squad out to the training field where he and Kiminoru had their sparring match.

"Three months is more than enough time to whip all of you into shape, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on any of you. Everyday I will be forcing each of you to and beyond your limits, Kai and Zetki are already aware of this Kiminoru. Are you ready?"

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" Kiminoru asked.

Reikahn grunted through a closed mouth before pointing to the center of the field silently telling his three genins to move to that spot "Then we will begin immediately".

The next three months came and went, just like he said day after day Reikahn pushed each of them to and beyond their limits. Their mornings consisted of several runs around the village and down the mountain side, immediately after they were to do fifty sets of push-ups with a single hand and both hands. Following that they were to do combat training against their sensei before tracking him throughout the village while capturing Intel props he left around the village.

Even through their demanding training schedule the three genin still found time to spend with each other. When their sensei finally decided to call it a day and left Kai, Zetki and Kiminoru were left with a few hours to do whatever they wanted before they to returned home. Already Kiminoru had become great friends with both of them. Within a week's time it was as if they've known each other for years. He and Zetki became like brother's constantly making fun of one another and even playing semi-dangerous pranks on the other.

Kiminoru's relationship with Kai however was different, with Zetki always being the first of the three to call it a night and head home it always came down to the two of them. Spending time alone with Kai was bordering on a real dream for Kiminoru, he would always say a cheesy or somewhat romantic one liner the first time he met a beautiful girl, but for some reason Kai was different. Every night he spent with her just seemed to flash by in mere seconds, every night for three months Kai and Kiminoru would spend time together and with it their friendship becoming stronger. Eventually they both began feeling something entirely different. Everytime he was around her Kiminoru's chest tightened around his heart and it would become hard for him to breath, whenever he tried to look away from her he would find that she was still on his mind, even during their training sessions he would occasionally falter because he allowed his mind to drift.

Kai was more aware of what her feelings were, but to a higher extent. She was also thinking about Kiminoru much more than she would've liked to and if she were to ever run into him out in the village she could feel her face becoming hot as the blood rushed into her cheeks causing her to blush and hide her face from him. She knew what these feelings were, but not if they were true. What if it was just a phase or an extreme admiration of him instead of what she thought, if that was the case it would be best not to tell him for fear of complicating or ruining their relationship.

It was almost time; the three months had come and gone in a flash. Tomorrow Reikahn would be taking his squad to the Hidden Leaf village Konoha for them to participate in the chunin exams.

With the sun long gone beyond the horizon nightfall had embraced the land. More than pleased with his squad's progress and determination Reikahn treated them all to dinner before he returned to his residence for the night.

The three squad mates thanked their sensei before he left. "I'm going to crash early" Zetki said "That way I can have some extra time to pack some supplies before we leave".

With both Zetki and Reikahn gone it was down to Kiminoru and Kai "I'm not all that tired. Feel like going for a walk?" Kiminoru asked her.

Looking up at the night sky Kai figured there was still a few hours before she would have to return home so she accepted his invitation.

Walking around the village the two of them exchanged a few stories of they're past experiences before they met. Just like they had been for the past three months every day after training they would spend time with each other. At first it was to keep their friendship and relation as a team strong, but eventually for Kai and Kiminoru it became much more.

Stopping at the edge of the Odore cemetery Kai said she wanted to talk to her father before they continued. Waiting at the edge of the cemetery for a while Kiminoru stared aimlessly at the night sky until Kai returned with small tears in her eyes.

"Sorry I took so long" she said quietly.

"You've got nothing to apologize for" Kiminoru said placing his arm around her shoulder.

The two of them decided to sit on a nearby bench instead of wandering around the village at such a late hour. "What was he like? Your father?" Kiminoru asked.

Kai lowered her head as a pleased smile came across her face "He was our leader. A great and honorable man. Even through all of the work he had to do he made sure there was always time for him to spend with his family. I can still remember as a child he would leave even in the middle of a council meeting just so he could see me off to sleep. Of course he would use a clone jutsu if there was ever anything that required his attention, but even then it would always be the real him that would be standing next to my bed at night".

Kiminoru smiled sadly "Sounds like a great man. Even through all of his responsibilities as the village leader you were always his number one priority".

Kai nodded "I used to ask my mom all the time to tell me how she and my father met; it was my favorite story as a child".

"How did they meet?" Kiminoru asked her.

"My father is directly descendant from the man who started the royal family. My mother is from a small family that serves as gardeners around the village. I don't know the whole history behind it, but my mother's side of the family weren't just skilled as shinobi, but they were excellent floral experts. All of the flowers and plant life you see around the village is because of my mother's family line".

"Impressive" Kiminoru said before Kai continued.

"My mother was setting up a garden around the front entrance of the tower when she met my father. From what she told me they were both enchanted by each other and you can guess where it went from there".

"So enchanting looks runs in both sides of your family then?" Kiminoru asked "That explains a lot".

Kai scoffed "I've heard every line you can imagine, so you won't say anything that's new to me".

"Who said I was hitting on you?" Kiminoru asked "I was just noting on your beauty is all".

"Heard that one to" Kai laughed.

Kiminoru shook his head "All right so tell me some more about your family".

"Well as experts in plant life my family has found a way to immunize ourselves from toxins, diseases or any form of sickness. So basically me or anyone in my family can't get sick from anything. Our immune system is perfect".

"Obviously that's from your mother's side of the family" Kiminoru said as he recalled what Zetki told him about how Kai's father died from illness.

Kai nodded "It's a handy thing to have. Not even the most potent of poisons can harm me".

"That's a lot better than the blood-line jutsu I have" Kiminoru said with an envious tone.

"What's that?" Kai asked.

"The Shadow Ace. The thing I used against Reikahn in our match a few months ago. It's all I have to remember my former life".

"That's still a nice move to have. It managed to catch Reikahn off guard more than once. That's something not even Kuma could…" Kai quickly fell silent after mentioning Kuma's name. It had been three months since he died, but every now and then she would feel bad about it.

Kiminoru could sense her sadness even though he wasn't looking directly at her "So" he began "How do you think we'll fair in the Chunin exams?" he asked changing the subject.

"I'm not sure" she replied "I'd like to say we'd be the best team there, but without knowing what the other squads would be bringing to the table its hard to be that positive".

Kiminoru grunted "We'll be fine".

"I wish I could be as sure as you and Zetki are" Kai said wishfully.

"You worry too much. In the past three months you, Zetki and I have gone through endurance, agility, strength, tracking, Intel gathering, chakra control and every other kind of training a shinobi can go through. He made sure we'd be prepared for what's ahead and I think we're going to do more than fine".

After a brief silence Kiminoru's eye were caught by the moonlight reflecting off of the silver rose laced in Kai's hair and he finally asked "What's that rose about Kai?"

Reaching her hand around the left side of her head Kai gently ran her finger over the beautiful silver rose and down her hair before answering "It's the symbol of my family. Each of us have to grow a silver rose with our own chakra as fertilizer. I can't give away details, but it's a very important tradition in my family. We call it the Intemporel. It means timeless. We call it that because it will never wither away, once it blooms it will never wither, never dry out. It can't die".

"Now that's amazing" Kiminoru said before reaching his hand up and moving the rose to the front side of Kai's head instead of the back just over her ear "It truly is beautiful, but I think it would look much better if it was up front instead of way back there. It helps highlight your eyes".

Kai blushed before moving the rose back to its original position over her ear and speaking frantically "No. I can't wear it there".

"Why not?" Kiminoru asked in a mixed tone.

"Well…" Kai's thoughts were scattered so she needed to take a moment to gather them "The rose isn't just a symbol of my family it also serves as a marker for our marital status".

"Really?" Kiminoru asked in a curious voice "How does that work?"

Kai's face reddened as she began explaining the rose's significance "Where it is now, on the rear left side shows that I'm single. When it's moved up front it indicates that I'm in a relationship with someone".

"You know if you move it up to the front it might get all the boys around the village to stop hitting on you" Kiminoru suggested, but Kai thought it was unlikely.

Kai sighed as she leaned back "What do you think of Reikahn and Zetki?"

"Well Reikahn is definitely a hardass, but that's how we've become as strong as we are, because he pushed us so far. I wouldn't trade him for any other jonin in the world. And Zetki…he may be clueless at times, but that's what makes him such a fun guy. It's easy to mess with him and he can take a joke in stride. What's more is he knows when its time to be serious. To be completely honest I wouldn't want anyone else watching my back".

Kai thought about what Kiminoru said and could feel a great sense of happiness within her. She was glad to see Kiminoru was enjoying not only his role as part of her squad, but even more his new life now that he wasn't wandering around the shinobi world alone anymore.

"What about me?" she asked him.

Kiminoru leaned forward and folded his arms over his lap as he stared at the houses several meters in front of them "You're something entirely different Kai" he said quietly before turning his head and making eye contact with her which made her heart skip a beat.

"How so?" she asked in a nervous voice.

Kiminoru took a few breaths so he could gather his thoughts, he wanted to tell her, but a part of him wanted to back out of the conversation entirely.

Taking one last shallow breath Kiminoru finally said what he wanted to "You're special to me Kai. Whenever you and I are together, just the two of us I wish time would move slower. Just so I can be with you that much longer".

Kai felt her heart racing and her face blushing, she wanted to look away, but she couldn't.

"And whenever I'm not with you" Kiminoru continued "Most of the time you're all I can think about. When I should be focusing on something else you're what's on my mind. I can't stop thinking about you Kai and sometimes it drives me crazy. I know we've only known each other for a few months, but I really think there's a chance for us to have a relationship at least I hope so".

Once he finished speaking Kiminoru looked away his heart was in overdrive and it wouldn't settle down it felt as if it was going to beat its way right out of his chest.

Kai was going through the same she could fell her heart racing to the point that it might pop. Forcing herself to look away she fixed her eyes on the armrest of the bench and asked in a mixed tone of nervous and hopeful "Is that how you feel about me or is that just you trying to hit on me?"

"Its how I really feel about you" Kiminoru admitted "I've been to a lot of places and met a lot of people and even though I never stayed in one place for more than a day I've never felt anything like this before".

For the next few minutes neither of them said anything they just sat there in silence gathering their own thoughts and feelings. Kiminoru's admission seemed to shake both of them, he really did like Kai, but he felt entirely different after he told her his feelings became stronger. Kai however was fighting her own feelings, she liked Kiminoru as a friend and knew how nice of a guy he was and part of her really wanted to see if there could be a successful relationship between them, but the other part of her was afraid to try.

"We should head back" Kiminoru said finally breaking the silence.

Looking up at the sky Kai got to her feet just as Kiminoru did and they walked back toward the manor in the center of the village.

Once the made it back to the manor the two guards at the gate greeted Kai before stepping aside and opening the gate. Following her inside the manor Kiminoru was amazed at the décor; it was nothing like the council building. "This is pretty cool" he muttered before Kai stopped and opened a door for him.

"You can stay here for the night. Once the Chunin exams are over and we return I'll arrange a permanent room for you at the hotel".

Kiminoru thanked her before stepping through the doorway and seeing the room he would be staying in. "Wow" he said in a silent voice.

"Hey Kiminoru" Kai said from the doorway "I…I feel the same way".

After she walked away Kiminoru closed the door with a small smile of his face before walking over to the well made bed and lying down. As he closed his eyes the last thing that crossed his mind was Kai's voice echoing in his mind _"I feel the same way"_.


	5. Zero Hour Approaches

"I have a better idea" Kiminoru said after Zetki suggested they rest before continuing toward Konoha. "Why don't we have a last minute training session? Since the exams begin tomorrow I think it would be best if we get as much of a warm up as possible".

"Come on man" Zetki complained "Don't be like Reikahn sensei, I thought you were cooler than that".

"Well that's what you get for thinking now isn't it?" Kiminoru asked him before Reikahn jumped into the conversation.

"I think it would be a good idea" he grunted "We're only a day's walk from Konoha so I think it would be for the best. Besides the day before the exams begin I'm going to make the three of you gather as much Intel on the other examinees as possible".

"Is there even such a thing as no work when you're involved sensei?" Zetki moaned.

Reikahn shook his head "Not really".

"So what kind of training are we going to do?" Zetki asked finally surrendering. "Agility? Focus training?"

"How about a mach battle?" Kiminoru asked "We've all trained by battling Reikahn in three on one matches so we know each other's battle strategies pretty well. Which means we'd make the perfect training partners for each other, we know each other's moves and how to defend against them".

"Quit yappin' and get to it" Reikahn demanded before walking to the edge of the river and sitting down.

"What?" Zetki gasped before Kiminoru appeared next to him and kicked him across the field landing him next to Reikahn.

"Eyes open boy" Kiminoru called over to him before several roots erupted from the ground and wrapping around his legs and arms binding him in place.

Looking over his shoulder he smirked as Kai repeated what he just said to Zetki "Eyes open boy".

"So this is what its like to be caught by this jutsu" Kiminoru said struggling against the roots as they tightened their grip on him the more he struggled.

Twisting his hands around Kiminoru grabbed the roots that bound each of his hands and began focusing his chakra into them. "This is gonna hurt" he growled before releasing the roots and snapping his fingers on each hand. Once he snapped his fingers the roots that bound his arms exploded freeing his limbs. "Ow!" he yelled while using a kunai knife to slash the roots the bound his legs and jumping away.

"Water style!" Zetki exclaimed from the edge of the river "Exploding Geyser jutsu!" Manipulating the river behind him Zetki summoned a massive pillar of water and directed it at Kiminoru nailing him with great force.

"Again ow" Kiminoru grunted before getting to his feet. The pillar of water was powerful enough to sweep him to the edge of the woods more than fifty meters from where he was standing.

"Earth style!" Kai cried "Drill Spike jutsu". Crouching against the ground Kai melded into the soil before immediately springing back up behind Zetki in a swift spiraling motion knocking him to the side while causing numerous cuts and gashes along his torso.

After hitting Zetki, Kai slid to a stop just a few yards from Kiminoru as he got back to his feet with his hands held together extending only his index and little fingers "Wind style" he growled "Great Gale jutsu".

Quickly crossing his arms into an X pattern Kiminoru threw them forward summoning a massive gale of wind toward his two opponents sweeping them both far away from him giving him the chance he needed to follow up.

Forming more handsigns he quickly clapped both of his hands together before raising his left hand to the sky and pointing his right at Zetki and Kai with his index and middle fingers extended "Lightning style! Ten bolt jutsu".

Snapping his fingers to the side Kiminoru called a single bolt of lightning from the sky striking right where Zetki was standing before snapping his fingers back to Kai and summoning a second. Repeating the process until he had called down ten bolts Kiminoru jumped back just as roots erupted from the ground.

After the dust cleared Kai was safely sheltered inside a stone shield she had summoned around her while Zetki was no where to be seen. "Nice try Kai" Kiminoru called "But that shelter of yours won't hold forever".

"Water style!" Zetki yelled jumping out of the river "Water Shark jutsu!" Using the water from the river Zetki shaped it into the form of a large shark and sent it speeding toward Kiminoru who easily evaded it, but was hit by senbon needle thrown by Kai.

The senbon had impaled itself several inches into his forearm, but Kiminoru was able to pull it out and toss it to the side "Nice try Kai…" Stumbling to the side Kiminoru mentally reprimanded himself for forgetting that Kai was an expert in poisons as his vision began blurring and his body went numb.

Trying to speak and make a joke about his condition Kiminoru's words came out as slurred gibberish before he stumbled to the side and fell into a slanted sitting position with his limp arms holding him up making him an easy target.

Seeing Kiminoru fall Zetki smirked "Nice going Kai, but I'm not going to fall for that". Quickly ducking to the side he evaded another senbon before jumping to the other side of the river and invoking another jutsu.

Just as he finished forming the last seal Zetki called the jutsu's name, but the river was covered by a think layer of stone and clay locking it away as a resource for him.

"That's just not fair" he yelled over to Kai who was fatigued and breathing heavily.

"You want fair?" Reikahn asked looking over his shoulder at his student "You think a real enemy would give you a fair chance to fight back? You need to get that thought out of your head now or you'll be the first to fall in a real fight".

"But I can't use my water ninjutsu with a source of water" Zetki argued.

"Well you'd better learn quick, because your enemy won't give you the chance to use it whether your near a body of water or not" the jonin fired back.

"_He's right"_ Zetki thought returning his focus to Kai on the other side of the concealed river _"I don't have the skill in chakra manipulation to gather the moister from the air. And even when I'm near a body of water it still takes a lot out of me just to summon a single jutsu. But water style jutsu is all I've got. What should I do?"_

Zetki recalled the first moments of ninjutsu chakra training he went through after Kiminoru had joined them three months ago.

* * *

><p>In the center of the field where Kiminoru and Reikahn had their sparring battle the three genin were sitting on their knees with their hands firmly resting just above their knee joints while Reikahn paced back and forth in front of them.<p>

"As the three of you know" he began in his faultless drill sergeant tone "Chakra is the mixture of the body's physical and spiritual energy. It is present in every cell of the body. And as Shinobi we utilize chakra to invoke our skills, be it ninjutsu, genjutsu or enhancing our taijutsu capabilities. Also as you know there are five chakra elements, fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. Each of these element styles hosts a great number of jutsu ranging everywhere between devastating and menial. What I haven't told you yet is that every shinobi has an affinity to a specific element of chakra, which means that using the element you have an affinity for will give you a boost for lack of a better term in the strength of your jutsu".

"Uh Reikahn sensei" Zetki interrupted "How can we tell what element we have an affinity for? Is there some kind of test?"

Reikahn grunted in slight annoyance as he reached into the pocket of his flak vest and pulled out several small slips of paper "Here's your test Zetki" he said taking a single slip and holding it between his index and middle finger. "These slips of paper are made from a special tree that is grown and fed with chakra. They respond to the smallest exposure to chakra and react differently for each element. If its fire it will ignite and turn to ash. If its wind it will split in half, lightning will cause it to wrinkle, earth it will turn to dirt and crumble away and water, it will began damp and soggy".

Holding the slip out toward his students he focused his chakra into the paper causing it to immediately ignite before turning to ash and blowing away.

"So you've got an affinity to fire sensei?" Zetki asked to which Reikahn nodded before handing each of them a single slip.

"All right so now you know what to do so do it" he ordered before looking over to Kai "You're up first Kai go ahead".

Looking down at the paper in her hand Kai channeled her chakra into the paper slip which immediately turned to dirt in her palm.

"Earth. No surprise there" Reikahn noted before looking to Zetki "Well let's see what you've got Zetki".

Doing the same Zetki held the paper in his palm and focused his chakra into it. The second his chakra was channeled into the slip it turned damp and wet in his palm sending a small cold shiver through his arm.

"Ooh gooey" Kiminoru joked in a nonchalant tone as Zetki waved his hand to the side trying to throw the damp slip from his palm.

"Don't hold me up Kiminoru let's see what you've got" Reikahn demanded.

Holding the paper between his index and middle fingers Kiminoru raised it to eye level and starred at it as if he was expecting it to speak to him. "You will split in half" he said as if he was trying to command it, but nothing happened. "No? All right you will turn to dirt!"

Again nothing happened, while Kai got a short giggle out of his stunt, Reikahn seemed to be annoyed by it. "Hurry up, you're wasting time".

"Sorry I just couldn't help myself" Kiminoru apologized before transferring his chakra into the paper and watching it wrinkle. "Lightning it is".

"All right so now you three know what you have an affinity toward, so now I can begin training each of you to strength that particular style from your arsenal".

Ordering his three students to their feet Reikahn sent each of them to a corner of the field and used the shadow clone jutsu creating two clones of himself to instruct Zetki and Kiminoru while he remained with Kai. "For the rest of the week you three will be focusing on Nature transformation training. This specific type of training is moderately difficult even for jonin, but I'm going to ensure that you're the most trained squad at the exams. I meant what I said about pushing you beyond your limits and it's too late for any of you to turn back so I don't want to hear any complaining. If I see you hesitating it's a full round of exercises understand!"

"Yes sensei" the three genin said in unison before Reikahn called their training to start.

Over the course of the next week each of them had focused only on the element they had an affinity to strengthening their skill at it. While Kiminoru had already been proficient at the lightning style he still learned several useful tips from the training. Kai assumed she had an affinity to the Earth element long before they began this training and was already an expert in the element, but continued with the training all the same. Zetki however was having trouble with his training. Every time he tried to summon forth a water style jutsu it would only make it halfway through the first stage of forming before falling apart. It seemed that he didn't have the chakra control to maintain and continue the jutsu.

* * *

><p>Coming out of his memories Zetki thought to himself <em>"If only I had a source of water I could fight back, but the river is sealed off. Come on Zetki think"<em> Closing his eyes Zetki shut off his sense of sight and focused of his sense of hearing zeroing in on, separating and identifying each sound that was made around him, from the wind blowing to Kai's breathing on the other side of the river.

In the eye of his mind everything around him was shrouded in darkness. He himself was illuminated by a single beam of light that stopped around the edge of his feet. "Water…Water…Water" he repeated to himself before hearing a faint sloshing sound. "I hear it" he gasped before the sloshing sound echoed again "I just need to find it. There's water around here, it's not from the river".

Zeroing in on the direction the sound was coming from he also heard the sound of plastic sliding against plastic and then the sound of something metal clacking against plastic he listened more intently as the sound of sloshing water echoed again.

Opening his eyes Zetki turned his head toward Kiminoru who was drinking from a canteen of water before throwing it to the side "I feel much better now" he said as he dusted the dirt off his clothing "Remind me next time I get poisoned that its not fun and to look out" he called over to Zetki before realizing what he said "Uh I mean…Ah forget it" he continued before setting himself in a battle stance with a wide smirk on his face.

"Do you ever not smile?" Zetki asked his teammate during the brief pause in battle.

"Can't help it" he called back "I love to have fun" he continued, brushing his black hair back before vanishing from sight.

"Dammit" Zetki yelled turning around just as Kiminoru slammed his open palm into his chest.

After the impact Zetki smiled before bursting into water and surrounding Kiminoru in a giant bubble. "Don't insult my intelligence" he mocked before commanding the water prison to close in around Kiminoru.

"Don't take me for such a fool" Kiminoru smiled placing his hand against the top of the bubble "Lightning style! Swift Bolt jutsu!"

A single bolt of lightning struck down from the sky hitting the inch of space between Zetki and the water prison that contained Kiminoru giving him the distraction he needed to break free.

Jumping into a back flip as he escaped the prison Kiminoru threw several kunai and shuriken at his stunned teammate each of them grazing and scratching him save for one that stuck in the broadside of his left thigh.

"It's over" Kiminoru declared before rushing in to land the final blow.

Still stunned from the shockwave of the lightning bolt Zetki clenched his eyes as Kiminoru approached him. Hearing Kai grunting in effort Zetki slowly opened his eyes and to his surprise saw Kai standing between him and Kiminoru trying to hold him off.

"I'm not going to like the ending to this either way" Kiminoru smirked as he twisted his hand around Kai's wrist and threw her to the side before spinning around and hitting Zetki with a roundhouse kick.

"Just you and me" he called over to Kai who was breathing heavily from the fatigue.

Even through her slight blurred vision Kai could see that Kiminoru was feigning, he was suffering just as much from exhaustion as she was. "I'm not through yet" she fired back taking a senbon from her hair and holding it sideways in front of her eyes.

"Actually you are" Kiminoru told her before throwing a flash bomb over to her and blinding her long enough for him to close the gap between them.

Stunned and deafened by the flash bomb Kai fell back on her butt, but even through her handicapped state she could feel Kiminoru approaching her from the side and shifted her aim to his direction.

Just as she raised her arm outward she heard a muffled voice yell "Leaf Hurricane".

Her vision slowly returned and she could just barely make out what appeared to be a stranger dressed in all green clothing standing between her and Kiminoru.

The stranger had his leg extended as if he tried to kick Kiminoru across the chest, but Kiminoru had his left arm running along the leg stopping it form hitting him. "An unwise decision" Kiminoru growled before throwing a right hook at the stranger who swiftly caught it in his own fist.

After catching Kiminoru's punch the stranger threw his own attempted punch with his free hand, but Kiminoru dropped his caught arm downward while twisting his arm that held the stranger's leg upward while simultaneously jumping over the stranger's leg and rolling to the ground dragging his attacker down with him.

Wrapping his own legs around the green dressed assailant Kiminoru twisted the stranger's ankle to the side while using his feet to push his hip and leg joint away from him in a dual ankle/leg lock.

"Lee!" a female voice cried from a few yards away.

Turning his head upward Kiminoru saw two other people running over to him one was a young girl apparently around 13 maybe 14 years old wearing a pink shirt and blue baggy pants with her hair in a twin bun style. The other was a young boy around the same age wearing a khaki shirt and dark brown shorts with bandages wrapped around his right arm and leg. His hair was long and tied into a narrow ponytail that stopped just below his neck.

"I'm guessing this belongs to you?" Kiminoru asked them as he continued to restrain the person who attacked him.

The girl nodded and bowed "Yes. Please forgive him he saw the three of you fighting and jumped to the conclusion that you were actually attacking them. He didn't realize that you're teammates".

"Fair enough" Kiminoru said before gently kicking his attacker in the hip with his heel and viciously throwing his leg off of him before getting to his feet and dusting off his clothes.

Stepping past the stranger Kiminoru helped Kai to her feet just as the other girl helped her friend up.

"All right" Kiminoru began "Introductions are in order. I'm Kiminoru Kaishien, this is Kai Adel. We're from the Mountain village Odore" he finished before hearing Zetki groan in pain not too far from them "And that's Zetki Kizuku our team mascot".

"Be nice" Kai said to him before looking over to the young man that attacked Kiminoru and bowing to him "I hope Kiminoru didn't harm you too much".

Quickly throwing his hand up in a thumbs up motion the boy in green spoke in an overly enthusiastic tone "No need to worry I have been through much worse that that".

"Ooooook" Kiminoru said in an uncomfortable tone before pointing at the boy "You're definitely not allowed to talk for the rest of this meeting".

"Kiminoru" Kai fired back in a why would you say that tone.

"What I was joking" Kiminoru defended "I actually kind of like his tone it's like me only fifty percent more annoying. So who are you three again?"

"I am Rock Lee, the handsome devil of the hidden Leaf village" the boy in green said in the same over enthusiastic tone.

"_My God he's going to be annoying"_ Kiminoru thought before looking over to the other two "And you are?" he asked the girl.

"I'm Tenten. And this is Neji Hyuga" the girl said bowing "We are a genin squad from Konoha".

"And together they form Team Guy" a strong enthusiastic male voice echoed from behind them. Looking behind them the three genin saw their team leader and sensei Might Guy. "Guy sensei!" the boy in green cheered as he quickly stood straight and saluted his teacher.

Darting his eyes back and forth between Guy and Rock Lee, Kiminoru immediately zeroed in on the many resemblances they had with each other before mentally sighing _"Great. There's two of them"_,

"Well well" Guy said as he laid eyes on Kiminoru and Kai, as well as Zetki who finally made his way over to his teammates "So you're the squad from Odore huh? They don't look like much Reikahn, but I can tell by the way their standing you put them through the ropes more than once".

Getting to his feet and walking over to his squad Reikahn nodded "You know how I work Guy. I'll accept nothing short of a hundred percent. And even then I expect more".

"Well if that's the case then I'm sure they'll pose a good challenge against my team" Guy said in a cheery tone "I'd suggest having a little mach battle between our two teams, but your three seem a bit tired from their own battle, was that some kind of training exercise you cooked up?"

Reikahn shook his head "No, that was all Kiminoru's idea".

"Yeah I'm still good to go a few rounds if anyone's interested" Kiminoru said with a blank expression.

"I don't know how you keep going man. You're almost worse than Reikahn sensei. Its always go go go with the two of you" Zetki complained.

"Silence minion" Kiminoru ordered quickly looking over his shoulder.

Guy sensei regarded Kiminoru with approving eyes "I can tell this one is going to become a great shinobi already".

Kiminoru raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak. Reikahn's grunt sounded almost as if he was laughing "If only you knew Guy".

"What's that supposed to mean?" Guy asked Reikahn.

Opening his eyes Reikahn finally smiled, something that none of his genin had ever seen him do "Kiminoru almost beat me one on one. He's more than capable of handling anyone in the exams".

"Almost beat you huh?" Guy asked looking back down at Kiminoru "Well I look forward to seeing what he can do then".

"Bored now" Kiminoru said walking away "I'm gonna keep going toward the village you kiddies can play just be home before nightfall".

"Kai, Zetki" Reikahn said back in his drill sergeant tone "Go after him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. I'll meet back with the three of you at our hotel room".

"Yes sensei" Kai bowed before she sprinted off after Kiminoru with Zetki trailing behind her slowly falling further behind.

Arriving at the front gates of Konoha, Kai took a quick look around, but didn't see any sign of Kiminoru. "He only had a minute's head start. Where could he be?"

Entering the village Kai spotted Kiminoru on the roof of a two story building watching two groups of genin. "How'd you get here so fast?" Kai panted as before kneeling next to him.

Kiminoru didn't answer he continued to stare down at the 6 genin below them on the street.

"What is it?" Kai asked him.

"That group over there" he muttered nodding toward the group that was walking away "There' going to be trouble if we ever run into them".

Looking over the group he pointed out Kai recognized the symbol on their headbands and tilted her head to the side "They're from the village hidden in the sand".

"I don't care where they're from. They're dangerous. Especially that short one with the giant thing on his back". Kiminoru noted pointing out the shortest member of the group with short red hair and an emotionless stare in his eyes.

"What about the other group?" Kai asked him.

Kiminoru looked back at the other group obviously from Konoha "From what I've seen so far the only one to worry about is the guy in the blue shirt. The other two are fools as far as I've seen" he began "The girl with the pink hair here. From what I've been able to gather her name is Sakura and she's more talk than bite. The other one's name is Naruto and he's a complete fool. I'm willing to bet even Zetki is smarter than this one".

"What about the other one?" Kai asked "The one you said to watch".

Looking back over to the boy in the blue shirt Kiminoru narrowed his eyes "His name is Sasuke Uchiha at least that's what he said it was. Going off of that alone I'd be wary of him, but the look in his eyes is what caught my attention. He's got a determination I've never seen before".

"I heard there was only one survivor of the Uchiha clan following the tragedy that befell them" Kai said looking down at Sasuke as he led the group down the road and around a corner.

"I heard something about that too" Kiminoru replied "I don't know all the details, but a spy we had reported something about it".

Kai's skin crawled for a brief second before she shook it off "I still can't believe you're from Muerte".

Kiminoru lowered his head "I'd rather not think of that place. I wish I could forget everything about it".

"I trust you and everything Kiminoru" Kai began "But you don't think those groups that are looking for you will try and infiltrate the exams to kill you will they?"

"It's possible" Kiminoru said "It's what I would do".

"That reminds me where's my favorite idiot?" he asked her looking over his shoulder.

"I didn't wait up for him" Kai said with a small guilty smile.

"Well as long as it's just the two of us" Kiminoru began turning to face Kai with playful eyes.

Kai smiled seductively as she leaned closer to Kiminoru who was doing the same. Just before their lips met Kai giggled as she withdrew "Man you're gullible".

"That's cold" Kiminoru scoffed "You could've just said no".

"And miss the chance to mess with you?" she asked getting to her feet and jumping to a nearby rooftop "Maybe some other time".

Saying goodbye to her teammate Kai ventured off into the village on her own leaving Kiminoru smiling alone on the rooftop.

In the village streets Kai was taking in the sights of the village making frequent 360 degree turns to make sure she didn't miss anything. Spotting the Hokage's mansion at the end of the street she gazed up at the distant figure of a man standing on its roof. It was too far to see, but she could just barely make out a long brimmed hat with a rear veil draping down from its back.

Holding her hand over her eyes Kai tried to get a better view of the man standing on the roof so far away, but nothing became any clearer. She was surprised to see the man waving at her, or at least she thought he was waving at her.

Dropping her hand below chin level she smiled before continuing on a side street that lead her to one of the training fields of the village. There she saw Reikahn speaking with an attractive woman appearing to be in her late 20's. She was dressed in a red mesh amour blouse with the left sleeve missing over layered by bandages that wrapped upward around her blouse with a pattern that resembled rose thorns. Her hair was long and untamed stopping just above her chest, and her eyes were dark red with an extra ring in them.

"Reikahn sensei!" she called over to him before approaching.

Looking over his shoulder Reikahn muttered something before nodding his head behind him, motioning for Kai to come over.

"Where's Kiminoru and Zetki?" he asked once she was close to them.

"Zetki's probably still limping around somewhere and Kiminoru is either taking a nap or off causing trouble somewhere" Kai responded before looking over to the woman with Reikahn and bowing "Hello".

The woman returned the bow and greeted her in a stern, but welcoming voice "Hello, you must be Kai Adel the future leader of Odore".

Kai withdrew half a step before answering "Ye…Yes".

The woman smiled at her "Don't be so shy, you have nothing to worry about from me. I am Kurenai Yuhi. Your sensei's sister".

"Sister?" Kai repeated looking over to Reikahn.

"Little sister" Reikahn corrected in a smug tone.

Kai was going to say that Reikahn never told them he had a sister, but then again he never told them anything about himself so she shouldn't have been that surprised.

"He's told me a lot about you and the other two of your squad over the past three months" Kurenai told her "He'll never admit it, but he writes to his sister almost every week".

"That's enough out of you!" Reikahn barked in an embarrassed tone.

Both Kai and Kurenai got a short giggle out of Reikahn's embarrassment, but the moment was short lived when an explosion occurred not too far from them, just behind the tree line of the forest.

Looking over at the edge of the trees they saw Kiminoru rushing out with another person chasing him. The one chasing Kiminoru was a robust boy wearing a short sleeved green jacket over a white shirt, in brown pants and bandages wrapped around his forearms and legs. He was surprisingly fast for someone his size.

Placing his hand on the fence Kiminoru quickly hopped over before spinning around on his landed heel and forming several handsigns. "Earth style, entombment jutsu".

The ground around them began shaking and the boy pursuing Kiminoru was quickly encircled and trapped by short stone walls with another one concealing the top effectively trapping him within.

"Let me out of here you thief" the boy yelled from within.

"Thief?" Kai asked "Did you steal something?"

Kiminoru turned around and shook his head "I wouldn't call it stealing considering I paid for it, but he wouldn't listen to reason".

"What happened?" Reikahn demanded back in his drill sergeant tone.

"All I did was buy a bag of chips from a nearby store. Just as I began walking away he started chasing me calling me a thief. I've been running from this guy for twenty minutes straight".

Reikahn let out an exhausted sigh "Let him out and we'll resolve this".

"We'll see" Kiminoru muttered before dismissing his ninjutsu, freeing the trapped boy who seemed angrier than he was before his imprisonment.

"You're going to pay double for that" he growled before Reikahn and Kurenai stepped forward.

"What's going on here Choji?" Kurenai asked.

Throwing his arm out Choji pointed at Kiminoru and yelled "That guy stole the last bag of chips from me".

"I bought them" Kiminoru said before repeating himself in an over enunciated tone "Bought them, bought not stolen".

"Those chips were mine and you took them before I could get a hold of them" Choji argued.

"There are other stores you can get snacks from Choji" Kurenai told him.

"Yeah, but…" Choji placed his hand over his stomach as it growled "I'm too hungry to walk".

Kiminoru sighed before reaching into his backpack and pulling out the bag of chips "Here" he said tossing them to him "I'll find another way to prank Zetki, so take 'em".

"Whoa" Choji muttered as if he just received a holy object "Thanks man" he cheered before tearing open the bag and inhaling the contents.

"I'm leaving now" Kiminoru said turning around and heading back into the village.

"The exams start tomorrow so I want the three of you at the hotel early understand" Reikahn yelled as Kai chased after Kiminoru.

"Try not to cause any more trouble at least until the exams start" Kai said after she caught up to Kiminoru.

"If I knew something like that was going to happen I wouldn't have bought that bag in the first place" he replied before continuing in a fake whining voice "All I wanted to do was play a prank on Zetki, but woe is me". Placing his hands over his face Kiminoru fake cried into them before quickly snapping his head back to a front facing position "Oh well out of memory".

Kai sighed as she hung and shook her head "I don't know what I'm going to do with you".

"You could let me take you to dinner one night" Kiminoru suggested.

"I'll think about it" Kai said before Zetki dropped down in front of them.

"I've been looking for the two of you all day" he said.

"It's only been two hours" Kiminoru told him "Regardless let's get to the hotel and wait for Reikahn, besides we need to check out that leg of yours bro looks like I banged it up more than I thought".

Returning to their hotel Kiminoru walked up to the receptionist and told her they were participating in the chunin exams.

"What village are you from and please show your ID and entry proofs" the female receptionist requested.

Looking over his shoulder at his teammates Kiminoru called over to them "Kai, Topnotch get over here".

Reaching into his tool pouch Kiminoru pulled out his ID and entry proof and set them on the desk "We're from Odore ma'am".

Turning to Kai and Zetki the lady asked them to show her their ID and entry proofs, after they showed both to her she thanked them and recorded their names into the guest book before telling them which room they were staying in".

"Thank you" Kiminoru said as he took the key and led Kai and Zetki up to the third floor of the hotel. "Kai can you check out his leg when we get inside?"

Kai nodded "I'll look at it, but I don't think it's anything more than a bruise".

Stopping in front of their room door Kiminoru was face to face with the female member of the sand village squad he was spying on earlier. "Can I help you with something?" she asked in a semi-hostile tone.

She was dressed in a light purple, off the shoulder styled garment that reached halfway down her thighs with a fishnet underlayer and a scarlet sash around her waist. Her hair was blonde and styled into four pigtails, and a giant iron fan tied to her back.

"And you are?" Kiminoru asked.

"Temari" she answered "Someone you don't want to get on the bad side of" she continued before walking past them.

"She seems nice" Kiminoru joked with a neutral tone and expression before opening the door to their room.

Once inside Kiminoru dropped onto a tatami bed and cupped his hands behind his head, while Kai checked on Zetki's leg.

"So what do the two of you know about the chunin exams?" Kiminoru asked as he stared at the ceiling.

After checking Zetki's leg Kai told him it was just a bruise and it would heal up by the end of the night before she turned to answer Kiminoru. "It's a three-part exam. The first is a written test, to gauge our knowledge. The second is a survival test where we're sent off into an enclosed area and have to fend for ourselves without the aid of a jonin. They'll probably send us into the Forest of Death".

"Lovely" Kiminoru said cutting her off.

"And the final part of the exams is usually a tournament style layout. At least that's what I've heard" Kai finished.

"All right then" Kiminoru said as he closed his eyes "I'm gonna sleep early then. That way I can have some extra time to figure out a few plans".

"I thought Kai was our squad leader" Zetki said sitting cross legged across the room.

"We're a team, so each of our opinions and ideas will be considered equally" Kai told him before looking at the orange sky that signaled sunset "Regardless of what we come up with it will all come down to the same end we're a team and we'll work together until its all over".


	6. Poker Face! Cheat the Way to Victory

Stepping out onto the balcony Kiminoru looked up at the night sky just as a calming breeze washed over him. Taking in a deep breath he closed his eyes for a brief second and quickly threw them open before darting his hand inside his leg pocket and retrieving a poker deck.

Sitting at the small table on the balcony Kiminoru pulled a single card from the deck and using a pen he drew a strange seal on the card before placing it to the side and doing the same to the next card. Coming down to the last three cards Kiminoru drew the same seal on each of them before adding a second seal overlapping it completely different from the first, but with a different sign.

"Done" he said to himself "And only three minutes and twenty-one seconds" Kiminoru chuckled "3-2-1 nice".

"Done with what?" Kai's voice asked from behind him.

Looking over his shoulder Kiminoru saw Kai standing not too far behind him, but quickly turned his head back around and blushed "Think you could put something less revealing on?" he asked.

Kai looked down at herself and realized his point, she was only wearing an open nightgown, but her breasts were still revealed under it. "Sorry" she said before closing her nightgown and tying it closed "I'm not used to sharing a room with anyone, guess it became a habit".

"Understandable" Kiminoru replied before standing up and turning to face her "By the by…I've figured out a way to get passed that written exam without much trouble".

"Really?" Kai asked.

Kiminoru nodded "Yeah here hold this" he said handing her one of the cards he imprinted with a single seal.

Taking one of the three cards with a double seal on it he held it in his hand and asked Kai to think of something, but not to tell him what it was. Unsure as to why he would ask such a thing Kai thought of the first thing that came to her mind, but the thought was side tracked by something else.

"Try to keep focused on a single thought please its hard enough to focus on one thing without you darting to another" Kiminoru said leaning his back against the railing of the balcony.

"What?" Kai asked surprised "What do you mean? You're not…reading my thoughts are you?"

Kiminoru nodded "These three cards with the double seals on them allow me to read the minds of those who have the others in their possessions" Taking the card from Kai Kiminoru handed her one of the double sealed cards and focused his mind.

"Now focus on your thoughts alone, but keep in mind that you have the seal otherwise this won't work" he told her before taking a short breath and _"Hello"_ he thought with a trailing voice.

Kai gasped and took a single step back "I…I heard that".

Kiminoru nodded "It's not heard to do, but you have to focus and bridge the gap between your mind and the target's. After that all you have to do is remain focused, but the thing is the longer you focus on such a thing the greater the headache becomes".

"Headache?" Kai repeated.

Once again Kiminoru nodded "Yeah. The longer you're exposed to another person's mind the more your head aches. There's too much static between two minds even if the 'bridge' between them is flawless".

"Is there a way around that?" she asked.

Kiminoru shrugged "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work too well. And I have no way of knowing unless I test it, but the only way to test it is going to be during the exam".

"Well what is it?" Kai asked him in an urging tone.

"Basically" he began "What we would do is take turns reading the minds of our targets. That way we could give the other time to rest and the headache to lessen, but if it gets drawn out too long it'll grow to a point to where you pass out".

"Well there's Zetki we could always use him to trade off with us" Kai suggested looking over to their sleeping teammate.

"True" Kiminoru agreed "As much as I make fun of him and call him an idiot, he's actually pretty clever. But still his chakra control is kind of off so I don't think he'd be able to hold together as long as either of us would, but still I trust him enough to hold it together long enough for me to rest".

"So that's our plan then?" Kai asked "Use these cards to cheat answers off of other people at the exam?"

Kiminoru nodded before taking the card from Kai and placing it with the other two that shared a double seal "Exactly. Let's just hope it doesn't last that long otherwise we'll all pass out from the stress".

Kai looked over to Zetki as he slept and scoffed "Let's hope so. Zetki's definitely committed to this as much as we are, but I'll have to agree with you. His chakra control won't let him keep that connection together for long".

"Which is why I'm going to take most of it" Kiminoru said after placing the cards back into his pocket "I've done it before so I'll be able to withstand the strain more than the two of you".

"Don't be so quick to underestimate me" Kai shot back.

"Wouldn't dream of it" Kiminoru defended before gaining a mischievous smile "You know Zetki and Reikahn aren't going to be awake for a few hours why don't you and I go have some fun somewhere?"

"Actually I have a better idea" Kai said before walking back inside and taking something from under her tatami bed and taking it to Kiminoru "Here. Reikahn brought us this he left out everything, but their names and photos".

"What is it exactly?" Kiminoru asked taking the small file from her.

"It's a list of the genin participating in the exams. He told me to memorize their names and faces. I don't really know why as far as Intel goes it's not much" she told him.

"Don't be too sure. Sometimes all you need is a name and face" Kiminoru told her "Of course he's not going to tell us what they're capable of he wants us to find out on our own that way we can adapt and become stronger for it".

Opening the file and looking at the first page he saw the squad they ran into outside the village "Jonin leader. Might Guy. Squad members, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee and Tenten".

Kai nodded "The Hyuga clan is known throughout the nations, I say we should be careful if we run into that squad".

"That goes without saying" Kiminoru replied flipping the page "Even Muerte knew of the Hyuga clan".

"Team 8. Jonin leader Kurenai Yuhi. Squad members Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga".

"Another Hyuga? And someone from the Aburame and Inuzuka clans?" Kai said in amazement "That squad will definitely be trouble".

"I've heard stories about the Aburame clan, but I've never heard of the Inuzuka clan" Kiminoru told her.

"The Inuzuka clan is truly unique. They use canine companions in combat I've never seen them in combat, but from what I've heard they aren't to be trifled with" Kai explained.

"Let's move on" Kiminoru muttered flipping the page "Team 10, Jonin leader Asuma Sarutobi. Squad members Ino Yamanaka, Shikimaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. I know of the Nara clan".

Kai nodded "As do I, but the others I'm not sure about. All I know about the Yamanaka name is that they own a very popular flower shop here in the village".

Flipping another page Kiminoru saw the team he was spying on earlier "Team 7, Jonin leader Kakashi Hatake. The copy-cat ninja?"

"The shinobi who's copied and mastered over one thousand jutsu. Everyone in the shinobi world knows his name" Kai said continuing to look over Kiminoru's shoulder.

Kiminoru nodded "Yeah. Even I know his name. But his genin. Those two idiots and the kid from the Uchiha clan. I'm not going to underestimate anyone, but there's no way their going to be that much of a challenge".

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha" Kai read over his shoulder.

"And here's the squad form the Sand village" Kiminoru said turning the page "Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. Jonin leader Baki".

"That's all there is in here. There's going to be at least six times this many squads and this is all he gave us?" Kiminoru asked.

Kai nodded "It's all he could get his hands on, but I'm not going to complain. I'm pretty sure this wasn't legal so let's not talk about it too much".

"Well I've got what I needed you good as well?" Kiminoru asked her.

Kai nodded "But what about Zetki?"

Kiminoru sighed "I trust him enough to be able to catch on and keep up". Holding the file over the balcony railing Kiminoru placed a tag on it and let go of the file. Watching the file fall to the ground below them it ignited into flames and burned to ash. "We'll just inform him if we run into any of them. Like you said its best to not be caught with a file like that".

"So what now?" Kai asked.

"Well…we can either get some sleep or…" Kiminoru's voice trailed off as he once again gained a mischievous smile.

Kai smiled, but turned around "Not just yet. Another time".

Kiminoru hung his head in defeat and groaned "Is she just going to keep toying with me?" he muttered to himself.

Kai returned to her bed and Kiminoru did the same, it wasn't long before they both fell asleep and reawakened five hours later.

"This is it" Reikahn said standing outside of a three story building "The chunin exams will begin inside. I cannot accompany you any further than this. From this point forward you three are on your own. Work as a team and remember what I taught you and you'll be fine".

Each of his genin had a determined look on their face, he wasn't showing it, but he was pleased to see that each of them were as ready as could be for what was ahead of them and they weren't even thinking about backing out.

"Let's do this" Kai said to her teammates as she pushed the doors open and stepped through with Kiminoru and Zetki behind her on both sides.

Once inside the three of them made their way to the third floor and heard a commotion on the other side of the door where the exam was being held "You don't think they've started already do you?" Zetki asked.

"Doubt it" Kiminoru said opening the door just as he heard a female voice growling "You idiot are you trying to start a fight with everyone in here?"

Several people were standing in front of Kiminoru and his team, all of them had their backs turned and didn't notice them. In front of those people were the rest of the genin from various villages almost everyone of them were glaring at a boy in an orange jumpsuit. The same boy he saw the previous day.

The pink haired girl standing next to him slapped him in the back of the head again "You hear me Naruto? Stop causing trouble".

Kiminoru stepped forward and pushed the genin in front of him out of his way as he cheered "Out of my way minions!"

Zetki was smiling at Kiminoru's action as well as his words while Kai was nervous that he was going to add to the tension around the room or even worse start an actual fight.

"Hey just who do you think you are pushing me like that!" the boy in the orange suit yelled turning his attention to Kiminoru.

"Kai, Zetki allow me to conduct my first observation" Kiminoru said with a smile as he eyed Naruto and placed his hand on his shoulder "Here we have the typical fool, the kind who does nothing, but goof off and make himself look like an idiot"

Turning to the pink haired girl he continued "And this is the classic example of a fan-girl who thinks of nothing, but her childhood crush while this one" nodding towards a girl in a purple dress with blonde hair Ino "Is the exact same only more over confident in her abilities".

Continuing through the group of nine genin around him he said what he thought about each of them "Here is the over determined, over confident type who scored far above anyone in his class and thinks he's better than everyone. And here is the vintage example of a shy girl who never voices her won opinion. The fat one who's never without food for more than a second, a lazy guy with no interest in anything and this one here" he said stopping in front of Zetki with his eyes closed "Is the biggest fool of them all".

Zetki's face faulted before he yelled "It's me you idiot I'm on your team so how about you show some support here".

"Right" Kiminoru muttered before pointing over his shoulder "I meant that guy" he continued as a boy in a purple short shirt with an underlying white shirt with matching pants and moderately large rounded glasses.

"Kiminoru try not to start a fight" Kai told him as the boy he was pointing to chuckled.

"It's quite all right actually. I found it rather funny" stopping in front of them as well as the other nine genin the boy introduced himself as Kabuto Yakushi and explained a few things about himself.

"So you've taken the chunin exams that many times and still haven't passed?" Zetki asked.

Kabuto nodded with a humble smile "That's right, but I have a good feeling about this time".

"I like this guy" Kiminoru said stepping back and standing next to Kai and lowering his voice to a whisper "Kai we need to plant those cards on as many people as possible I already planted one on each of these genin next to us, but we need to get more. We need to try and get attention off of ourselves so we can do that".

Kai gave him a subtle nod "Right, but exactly how are we going to do that?"

Kiminoru grunted "I'll make a distraction and you go plant the cards, just pretend to be annoyed with me and walk away".

Before Kai could say anything Kiminoru spun around and stepped forward immediately pointing at a squad of genin "That's it I'm bored. You, you and you come on let's go" he yelled.

The three genin he pointed at were all ready prepared for a fight each of their headbands had the symbol of a music note on them. "The boy wants a fight huh?" the one with bandages running around his face said "All right we'll give him one. Kin, Zaku let's show him what happens when you pick a fight with the sound village".

The two sound ninja nodded and the vanished immediately appearing on both sides of Kiminoru with their leader in front of him.

"Kiminoru!" Kai yelled before groaning angrily "Why do I even bother?" With a sigh of annoyance Kai walked past Kiminoru and into the large group of genin in the room while their attention was focused of Kiminoru and the three sound genin around him.

Just as Kai began planting the cards Kiminoru gave her on various people Kiminoru continued to provoke the three sound ninja around him. "Come on! Let's see what you got".

"You talk way too much you know that" one of the sound ninja said as he set himself in a sighting stance along with his two comrades.

The one in the center of the group and the apparent leader was wrapped in gauze with only his left eye uncovered, his clothing style was definitely odd, consisting of a snake patterned scarf, a rain coat made of straw and a poncho. On his right arm was a massive iron club that was truly odd, but Kiminoru didn't pay it much attention.

"Let's make an example of him" he said before swinging his clubbed arm up in an uppercut.

Kiminoru smiled with an arrogant grunt as he closed his eyes "Check".

When the sound ninja's arm made its swing Kiminoru was gone he had vanished from sight and was standing behind the sound ninja now, as if he was there the entire time. "Nice try" Kiminoru said with a neutral expression on his face "But you're not as good as you think you are".

Before the sound ninja could turn around a massive voice boomed across the room "That's enough!"

At the front of the room in front of the massive blackboard a large group of shinobi appeared in the center was a man who had a frightening look on his face.

"There will be absolutely no combat here. Failure to follow that rule will result in the disqualification of you and your squad" he yelled in a commanding voice.

"Bummer" Kiminoru muttered.

"Sorry, guess we got carried away" the sound ninja said before walking away with his teammates.

"My name is Ibiki Morino" the man said in the same booming voice "I'll be your instructor for the first portion of the Chunin exams. At this point I will explain the rules of the first exam after that you will be given your seating order once everyone is seated you will be given your testing paper".

Looking around the room Ibiki began explaining the rules before giving everyone their seating number, once everyone around the room was seated the many jonin that accompanied Ibiki began handing out the testing sheets as he continued to explain the rules until the last sheet was given out.

Once they had finished handing out the test papers the jonin sat in chairs that lined the two side walls of the massive room with clipboards in their hands as if they were going to be taking notes on them. "These sentries will be monitoring you, if you're caught cheating you get a mark on your name. Each mark is worth twenty points. Five marks and you're done. You and your squad will fail".

With those final words the test began and Kiminoru focused his mind out to his teammates _"Kai, Zetki you guys hearing me?"_

"_Yeah"_ they said in unison.

"_All right I'll take first round then. I'll scan around and I'll relay the most promising answers to you, we'll trade off every twenty minutes, but the second you start getting a headache I don't care how slight you trade your shift off to the next person got it"._

"_Right"_ both Kai and Zetki said.

Carefully looking around the room Kiminoru zeroed in on each person that Kai planted a card to and listened carefully to their thoughts as he tried to determine the best answer to each question being doubly careful to not get caught by the sentries.

"_All right I've got an answer to question six"_ he told Kai and Zetki before relaying the answer to them.

The test continued for half an hour, Kiminoru had already traded his shift off to Kai who had to trade hers to Zetki because she faltered and lost her 'bridge' between them.

"_This is getting too much, you're up Kiminoru"_ Zetki said before relinquishing control to Kiminoru.

"_Very well, I'll take it from here"_ Kiminoru confirmed.

Across the room in mere minutes several people and their squad were eliminated and the sentries were making mark after mark half of the room was emptied out in less than ten minutes.

"_This is getting hard"_ Kiminoru said _"Most of those guys had the cards on them. I've only got a few people to go on now. What's more is now the sentries around us have a better view on us"_.

"_What are we going to do now?"_ Zetki asked.

"_Keep going, but we need to be subtle. I'll be taking it from here, I'll tell you what I'm able to find"_.

"_What about that headache you're going to end up with?"_ Zetki asked him.

Kiminoru smiled _"I've got that covered. Don't worry"._

As the test continued Kiminoru began getting more and more fatigued, he had to block out everything around him just to focus on reading a single person that included ignoring the sentries around him, leaving himself exposed to being spotted.

"_Question three I've got it"_ Kiminoru said before opening his eyes, his vision was completely black for a few seconds before coming back _"All right guys that's it this is getting too much, Kai you're up try not to get caught or we're finished"._

"_There's no need time's almost up and we've only got two questions unanswered"_ Kai told him _"Let's just ride it out and hope for the best"._

"_I agree with Kai"_ Zetki said _"There's no need to keep going with this little people around we're going to have a high chance of getting caught just on suspicion alone. Let's just play it safe"_.

"_All right. I'm outvoted"_ Kiminoru resigned before dispelling the jutsu he had connected to Kai and Zetki as well as the remaining people in the room "You're call, let's hope for the best" he muttered.

As the final ten minutes began ticking away Ibiki spoke up gaining everyone's attention and as if performing a psych op, told everyone the rules to the final question, if anyone got it wrong they would fail along with their squad and be forbidden to ever take the chunin exams again, but if they decided to not answer the final question they would be failed, but allowed to take the next exams whenever they came around.

Kiminoru gritted his teeth and he could sense that Kai and Zetki were feeling the same sense of anticipation. There was no way they could reestablish their connection with one another without being caught and now they really needed Kiminoru's jutsu to be able to read the others.

"So this is your only chance" Ibiki said "If you want to play it safe give up now, but if you want to take your chances and get it wrong you doom yourself to being a genin for the rest of your life".

Slowly scanning around the room with his eyes Kiminoru watched several people raise their hands disqualifying themselves and their squad mates.

It hadn't even been a minute since the others raised their hands, but the anticipation and tension in the room made it feel like an eternity _"Almost home free, but it still feels like we're up against impossible odds. This guy…this instructor"_ Kiminoru thought _"He's good with the mind games he's even got me wondering if he's yanking us or not"_.

Near the front of the room the boy in the orange jumpsuit Naruto Uzumaki began raising his hand much to the surprise of his teammates, especially Sakura who was sitting only a few seats to Kiminoru's side.

Kiminoru closed his eyes _"A shame. I was really looking forward to seeing him in the next exams"_.

Everyone in the room trained their eyes on Naruto as his arm was raised in the air, shaking violently.

Just before Ibiki nodded for the sentries to strike Naruto's name form the list Naruto slammed his hand down on the table and yelled "You think you can scare me that easily? I never give up! So you can stand there and preach about the rules and how tough this last question is going to be. I don't care if I'm stuck as a genin for the rest of my life. I'm still going to be Hokage someday you got that!"

For some reason that outburst managed to give everyone left inspiration and courage to stick with the final question, even Kiminoru was impressed _"Maybe I was wrong about him. He just might not be the fool I thought he was. If the opportunity presents itself I'll have to get to know him"._

Naruto's outburst definitely made an impact anyone who remotely looked like they were thinking about calling it in suddenly became determined and sure that they could handle anything thrown at them and Ibiki knew there was no shaking them.

Grunting Ibiki smiled as he threw his head back "Congratulations you've all passed the first exam".

"Hold on!" the girl from the sand squad yelled from the back of the room "What about the final question. Don't tell me that was all just a bluff to try and get us to quit".

"That's exactly what it was" Kiminoru said leaning back in his chair "I'm still shaking, if that was just the first exam I can't wait to see the rest" smiling arrogantly Kiminoru gazed around the room and stopped at Kai "This is going to be a fun trip".

Everyone returned their eyes to Ibiki just as he opened his mouth, but before he could speak the window shattered and a woman wearing an open tan overcoat with an underlying tight mesh bodysuit that ran from her neck to her thighs. Her violet hair was done up in a spiky pony-tail and her pupil-less eyes had the most beautiful shade of purple Kiminoru had ever seen.

The woman introduced herself in a hyperactive tone as Anko Mitarashi the instructor for the second exam and stated that everyone in the room belonged to her from that point forward.

"_Beautiful and a complete nutcase"_ Kiminoru thought _"I like this woman"_.

"You're early Anko" Ibiki said "As usual".

Anko's expression quickly changed and she looked over her shoulder at Ibiki and rubbed the back of her head while she apologized "What's with you? You let this many squads pass? You've gotten soft".

"Or maybe" Ibiki began "There's a stronger batch of candidates this year".

"We'll just see about that" Anko said turning back to the genin around the room and ordering them to follow her to the next exam area.

Walking along side his team Kiminoru asked them what they thought about Naruto's outburst. "I think he's got a lot of guts for doing that, but I doubt he's going to be much trouble" Zetki said.

"He was trained by the copy ninja Kakashi Hatake so he might be better than you think Zetki" Kai told him.

"All the same" Kiminoru said "I want to see him in action he's got my interest piqued. I can only hope I get a chance to take him on myself".


	7. Kai's Tears

Standing outside of a massive forest that was fenced off with many various warning signs the remaining genin looked toward their proctor for the second exam.

"All right listen up!" she barked "The rules for the second exam are about as simple as they get" the proctor paused to hold out two scrolls in her hands one white and the other brown "Each team will be given either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll. Your objective is to seek out the other teams to obtain one of each by any means you deem necessary. Once you have both scrolls you are to head for the tower in the center of the forest. If any members of your squad are unaccounted for by the time you enter the tower or you fail to obtain both scrolls you fail. You'll have a maximum of five days to accomplish this, oh and one more thing"

Turning her head to a set of two booths a few yards from her she continued "Every one of you will be required to sign one of these waiver forms or you will not be allowed to participate".

"Why not?" one of the genin shouted from the center of the massive crowd.

The exam proctor gave a creepy smile before she answered "It releases us from liability in the event of your death, and in this place that's very likely" raising her right arm she pointed her thumb over her shoulder "Training Ground No. 44. Dubbed the Forest of Death".

"Lovely" Kiminoru said sarcastically before stretching his arms out "I can't wait to get to the fun part".

Seeing the eager smile on Kiminoru's face Zetki finally had enough "Will you calm down already, you keep getting excited like that and you'll have a heart attack before the gates even open".

Not realizing that he had yelled that Zetki was completely oblivious to the eyes of everyone around him staring at him ad Kiminoru as he answered "I told you I can't help it. This is just one more stepping stone in our way right? Besides if they call it the Forest of Death you know its going to be a fun trip".

"This isn't a vacation you twit" Zetki barked "This is serious so pull it together".

"Kiminoru dropped his smile, but his tone was still the same as he looked at his teammate "You're the one who has to pull it together Zetki. The proctor's words have you all bugged out. Trust me this'll be nothing, we'll blow through here like a morning run and take down anything in our way".

Zetki was about to say something, but froze and had a look of shock on his face, Kai was also scared about something. They were both looking at something right behind him and Kiminoru smiled with a gruff grunt as he looked over his shoulder "Can I take your order?" he asked the proctor who was standing behind him with a kunai knife pointed at the side of his neck.

"A tough guy huh?" she asked him "You know tough guys like you are usually among the first to die in this place".

"Noted" Kiminoru said calmly "But unless your planning to ask me out to dinner" Kiminoru paused to show that he had his hand behind his back with his own kunai aimed right at the proctor's stomach "I think you should step back".

The proctor gave Kiminoru an interested smile before he reached his hand up and grabbed the edge of her kunai "I think I'll keep this one" he said gently pulling the knife out of her hand.

"My aren't we cocky?" she said with an ambitious tone completely unconcerned and unfazed that he had taken her knife "Well then let's not hold it off any longer, let's get started".

"She's completely insane" Zetki said stepping over to Kiminoru who seemed to be the only one unfazed by Anko's sudden assault.

"No, she's just having some fun" Kiminoru told him as he swung the kunai he took from her around one of his fingers.

Looking to the side Kiminoru saw the same genin whose outburst caused the end of the first exam. _"Naruto Uzumaki"_ he thought before turning in his direction "Let's go introduce ourselves" he said to his team before leading them over toward Squad 7. "Hey jumpsuit" he called over to Naruto catching the blonde ninja's attention.

Seeing Kiminoru's team approach him Naruto closed his eyes and with a blank expression asked "What do you want?"

"That was quite the outburst you had during the exam" Kiminoru said referring to Naruto's 'speech' at the end of the first exam "What's your name?"

Naruto seemed surprised for a second before answering with excessive enthusiasm "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. The next Hokage".

"The next Hokage?" Kiminoru asked before giving a silent chuckle "That's quite a claim, I'll have to remember your name so I know to stay out of your way then" holding his hand out Kiminoru introduced himself "I'm Kiminoru Kaishien from Odore. This is our squad leader Kai Adel and our mascot uh I mean teammate Zetki Kizuku".

Zetki's face faulted before he barked "Can you stop doing that and actually be serious for once!"

Ignoring his teammate's request Kiminoru kept his eyes trained on Naruto "If you truly are going to be the next Hokage. I'd like to face you myself one day".

Naruto smirked before shaking Kiminoru's hand "Just come prepared to lose".

"Excuse me" the female member of Naruto's team said taking a few steps forward "Did you say her name was Kai Adel?"

"Yes" Kiminoru confirmed before looking over his shoulder at Kai.

"The same Kai Adel who's the heir to Odore?"

Kai nodded "Yes that's me".

"Heir?" Naruto asked in a confused tone "What's that mean?"

"That means that she's going to be the one who leads her village. An heir is a term for the next in line it only applies to a royal family line though" the pink haired girl explained.

"Royal family?" Naruto asked "So what you're saying is that she's some kind of princess or something?"

Kai nodded with a small smile "Well I don't really like that term, but I guess you could say that".

"I heard that the leader of Odore died of illness a few years ago and that his only daughter was the heir, but I thought you would have taken over by now. Sorry I wasn't expecting you to be so young" the pink haired girl apologized.

Kai kept her smile "Well that's a good thing I guess, but one day I will lead my village".

"You got something you wanna say?" Naruto's teammate in the blue shirt asked after noticing that Kiminoru had his eyes on him during Kai's conversation with his teammate.

"Actually I do" Kiminoru said "The symbol on the back of your shirt. You're the survivor of the Uchiha clan aren't you?"

The boy didn't answer he merely gave Kiminoru an uninterested glare, a look Kiminoru found interesting "Well it looks like there are two people to keep my eyes on then" he said looking back and forth between Naruto and his teammate "So I know your name" he said to Naruto "But what about your friends here?"

"Huh?" Naruto grunted "Oh yeah right. Uh this is Sakura Haruno and that's Sasuke, but I wouldn't worry about him too much he's not as strong as me".

Sasuke scoffed and looked away from Naruto as he went to get a waiver form for his team.

"Zetki" Kai said nodding over to the booth with the waiver forms.

Zetki nodded "Right give all the work to me" he muttered in a fake complaining voice as he walked away.

After Sasuke and Zetki returned to their respective teams and handed each of them a form to sign Kiminoru felt like something was watching them and looked over his shoulder, but there was no one looking anywhere near him or his team. "Something's not right here" he said silently before taking his signed form back to the booth with his team and receiving the Earth scroll for their team.

Once back with Kai and Zetki, Kiminoru smiled as he ran his hand over his black hair _"Despite my words, I'm actually shaking here. Whatever's in there waitin' for all of us isn't going to be friendly" _Kiminoru laughed in his head as he closed his eyes _"Then again part of me is going to enjoy this, so I guess there's not really too much to worry about, as long as we stick together nothing will stop us"_.

Going to their assigned gate Kiminoru and his friends waited with nerve rending anticipation for the gates to open and the test to begin "You two ready?" he asked them.

Kai nodded "Yeah. It's a teamwork mission so I know we'll have no trouble with this one".

Zetki nodded as well "Exactly, besides it's too late to back out now".

Watching the sentinel in front of them unlock the gate's padlock each of them tensed up even more as he returned to looking at his watch, waiting for the time to open the gate for them.

"So what's the plan?" Zetki asked.

Kiminoru smiled "We rush right in find a nice dark shadow and play the waiting game".

The sentinel turned around and opened the gate for them, but before he could even turn back around the three of them bolted by him and entered the forest, with their goal in mind and their plan set it was assured that they would pass.

"All right let's get the high ground" Kai ordered before jumping upward toward the higher tree branches of the dense forest.

Following after their squad leader Kiminoru and Zetki stayed on both sides of her as they followed her through the forest.

Hearing screams of pain and fear echoing from far away Kiminoru's smile faded to a lesser one "That's a shame, we're only five minutes into this thing and already people are falling".

"Better them than us" Zetki said before jumping over Kai and to the other side of Kiminoru who was now in the formation's center.

"Fair enough" Kiminoru said before reaching into weapon pouch and making one last lunge upward "Now it's our turn" he grunted fiercely as he threw several shuriken downward at an un-expectant squad from Konoha.

Surprised by the sudden shuriken that flew by them the three man squad quickly jumped away from each other making them easy targets, landing in front of the three genin Kiminoru didn't give them time to breath before he made his move. Quickly rushing toward the closest one he made several swings forcing his target to back up further and further until he fell into a trap set by Zetki.

Once Kiminoru backed him up far enough Zetki sprang out form the bushes and threw his canteen of water over him before forming handsigns and using the water to trap their target inside a bubble. "Water prison jutsu!"

With one member down Kiminoru turned around and gave a mocking salute to the remaining two genin before roots erupted from the ground and entangled the female member of the team and forcing her to her knees.

The girl screamed as the roots wrapped their way around her legs and arms before constricting her body. Once she was forced to the ground the remaining member of the team was left alone without help, frightfully staring at Kiminoru who had an innocent smile on his face.

"Be so kind as to show me what scroll you have" Kiminoru asked him.

The frightened genin reached inside his sleeve and with a shaking arm slowly pulled out his arm before throwing a kunai at Kiminoru who quickly ducked to the side. "Wrong answer!"

In an instant Kiminoru had closed the gap between him and the genin and knocked him out with a quick elbow to the side of his neck. "They never choose the easy way" he complained as he searched the genin's incapacitated body for the scroll.

"Did you find it yet?" Zetki asked struggling to keep his jutsu up.

"Dammit!" Kiminoru yelled in a high pitched whiny voice "It's an Earth scroll".

"Figures" Zetki said releasing his jutsu on his prisoner "Well let's get going" he told them before jumping back up into the trees just as the roots released the female genin and receded into the ground.

Tossing the scroll to the girl that the roots held Kiminoru ran past her before jumping over a line of shrubbery and then up into the trees to rejoin his team.

"We find the easiest team in the world to beat and they don't have the scroll we need" Zetki complained as they moved through the trees.

"Oh well" Kai said from his side "That just means we'll have to try the next squad".

Kiminoru smiled, but before he could say anything a small white ball jumped up in front of them with the kanji for 'boom' written on it and a kiss of red lipstick right next to it. His smiled immediately faded Kiminoru yelled "Get down now!"

Before either Kai or Zetki could realize what had happened the ball exploded in a blinding light while simultaneously throwing each of them in a different direction.

Opening his eyes Kiminoru pushed himself back to his feet with a painful grunt "That was…unpleasant". Looking around him he saw no trace of Kai or Zetki for that matter he didn't even seem to be in the same area he was in before that bomb went off. "That bomb…" he muttered remembering what the bomb looked like.

"That lipstick" he continued "There's only one person I know who does that" looking straight ahead he called out "All right Kairi get out here".

"As sharp as always" a female voice said before a figure stepped out from the tree line to Kiminoru's right.

Standing in the open was Kairi Belleza, the woman who trained Kiminoru in the arts of stealth, combat and ambush tactics. She was a beautiful woman in her mid 30's; her hair reached down to her shoulders and was a pale shade of black almost silver. She wore a skin tight deep violet suit with pale black sleeves and leggings that matched her hair color. She had a brown belt with three pouches and three miniature scroll holders. On her left shoulder and right thigh were knives in their holsters.

"It's been a long time since we last saw each other" she said in a voice that matched her beauty.

Kiminoru replied with a smug grunt "I was wondering how long it would take them before they would send you after me".

"It seems you've already forgotten what I've taught you" Kairi said "I'm not after you, I'm after the heir to Odore".

"You're after Kai?" Kiminoru asked "So Muerte is planning something. What is it this time? Another war?"

Kairi eyed Kiminoru up and down for a few seconds "It seems you've been taking good care of yourself. But still I'm surprised to see you in the company of others".

"Answer me" Kiminoru demanded.

"Why would I tell you something you already know" Kairi responded.

Kiminoru growled "What are they going to do this time?"

"The first three stages are already in motion, pretty soon Odore will be powerless against them" Kairi told him.

Kiminoru narrowed his eyes "And why did they send you after Kai?"

"She's an important target" Kairi replied "With her captured the shinobi of Odore will have to surrender".

"There's more to it than that" Kiminoru said "They wouldn't just send the top shinobi in Muerte after a single person regardless of how important she is, so why did they really send you?"

Kairi kept eye contact with Kiminoru as she answered "They wanted to confirm the report that you were now a shinobi of Odore. They sent me to confirm that and then to capture the heiress".

"Well your mission is half accomplished" Kiminoru said before setting himself in a battle stance with his arms lying parallel over each other "And it's going to stay that way".

"You don't really think you can stop me do you?" Kairi asked.

"I don't care how strong you are Kairi" Kiminoru began "There's only one way you're going to get to Kai, and that's to kill me".

Kairi seemed surprised for a brief moment "You…you're willing to sacrifice your life to protect her?"

Kiminoru glared at Kairi "I…I…" stumbling in his words Kiminoru quickly thought about what he was going to say before regaining his composure "I will protect her as is my duty as a shinobi of Odore and my duty as her friend and teammate".

"A friend huh?" Kairi asked him before a smug smile crossed her face "Hah! Well I guess you are overdue for your last lesson, now that I think about it you did decide to get yourself exiled before I could teach it to you".

Kairi suddenly appeared behind Kiminoru and stabbed him in his shoulder with the knife from her shoulder holster before whispering in his ear "All battles are won by deception alone".

Kiminoru gasped before looking at Kairi from the corner of his eyes and smirking "Don't insult my intelligence like that".

Kairi gasped as Kiminoru melted into mud before forming into a bulky humanoid form made and grabbing hold of Kairi by her shoulders. "A substitute jutsu into the clay soldier!"

"Don't look so surprised" Kiminoru said appearing behind the clay soldier "After all you said it yourself, deception".

Placing his hand on the clay soldier's neck Kiminoru focused his chakra into its body and smiled as he backed away and held his hand out "Boom" he said before snapping his fingers causing the clay soldier to explode throwing Kairi back.

Twisting her body forward Kairi placed her hand and feet on the ground to slid to a stop before resuming her attack. "Don't think a petty attack like that will stop me" she yelled.

Jumping up Kairi threw a wave of shuriken toward Kiminoru before throwing two kunai wrapped with bomb tags right behind them and holding her hand out the same way Kiminoru did.

"Dammit!" Kiminoru growled jumping back and holding his arms in front of his face just as Kairi snapped her fingers causing every weapon she just threw to explode, and the bomb tags attached to the kunai knives to release a thick cloud of smoke covering the area.

"Dammit smoke tags, I should've seen this coming a mile away it's her favorite trick" Kiminoru angrily muttered to himself before Kairi attacked him from the side.

Using a hard thrust punch Kairi sent Kiminoru flying to the side before using her superior speed to appear behind him to continue her assault. Grabbing him by the leg Kairi twisted around before throwing him behind her and forming several handsigns "Wind style! Great Gale jutsu!"

Summoning a mass of wind with the strength of a typhoon Kairi threw another wave of shuriken toward Kiminoru before forming even more handsigns. "Fire style! Fireball jutsu!"

Taking in a deep breath Kairi reared back before lunging forward and breathing out a massive fireball aimed right at Kiminoru.

The strength of the typhoon level wind slammed Kiminoru against a tree just before the wave of shuriken sliced by him making several cuts and scrapes across his body before the fireball hit him.

"Dammit" Kiminoru gasped through the pain "What the hell am I thinking trying to take her head on? There's no way I could beat her like that, I need to try something else".

Pushing himself up to his feet Kiminoru reached into his shuriken pouch, but Kairi was already on him. In an instant Kairi has appeared in front of him and slammed her knee into his stomach before ramming her hand into his throat three times and lifting him up and dropping him back to the ground.

Raising her leg up in a half circle motion Kairi brought it back down full force landing it right on Kiminoru's chest.

Grabbing Kairi's boot before it made contact with his chest Kiminoru grunted "This isn't going to end that easily". Pushing her foot away Kiminoru planted his hand on the ground and pivoted around in an attempt to sweep her legs, but Kairi was already ahead of him, she had jumped back and dropped a smoke pellet to cover her retreat.

"Again with this?" Kiminoru growled. Hearing the distinct sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath Kiminoru spun around and ducked just as Kairi swung her sword over his head. "There!" he gasped quickly grabbing hold of her wrist and slamming his open palm into bottom of her elbow joint and then throwing his elbow back hitting her in the throat.

Once his elbow made contact with Kairi's throat Kiminoru twisted his torso in the opposite direction to fling her around him before he formed his own handsigns "Lightning style! Single bolt jutsu!"

Quickly raising his arm to the sky he threw it back down aiming it at Kairi summoning a single bolt of lightning striking down on her. Rushing in through the dust cloud that the lightning bolt kicked up Kiminoru grabbed hold of Kairi once again and pulled her toward him and bringing his knee up aiming at her side.

Just before his knee made contact with her Kairi placed her hands together in the Tiger symbol and vanished leaving behind a whisp of flames that clinged to Kiminoru's jeans. Patting out the flames Kiminoru left himself open giving Kairi the chance she needed to end the fight.

Standing behind him, Kairi hooked her arms under his and locked her hands behind his neck restraining him in a full nelson hold. "I'll say this only once" she said as Kiminoru struggled against her hold "Just give up and stay out of the way".

"I don't think so" Kiminoru grunted continuing to struggle against her hold.

"Why bother protecting her? What do you owe her that's worth your life?" Kairi asked tightening her hold.

Again Kiminoru struggled against Kairi's hold, but life his previous attempts it was in vain. "What's it to you?" he asked her finally giving up in his struggle.

Kairi gasped silently as she stared at the back of Kiminoru's head, the look on her face changed, it was a sad expression like she had just missed something important she had been chasing for years, something she couldn't get back.

Feeling her grip loosen Kiminoru took his chance and lowered his head ready to throw it back, but stopped when he felt a tear hit his neck. Turning his head as much as he could he stood surprised to see several small tears forming in Kairi's eyes.

"You're…" Kiminoru breathed just before Kairi came back to reality and slammed the broadside of her arm full force against the back of his neck knocking him out.

Immediately Kiminoru's eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground completely unconscious. Standing over his motionless body Kairi closed her eyes using her thumb to wipe the tears from her eyes and whispered in a sad voice "I'm sorry, but if I don't do this then everything will come to an end. This is the best option, please forgive me".

"Kiminoru!" Zetki's voice cried from the tree line above them.

Kairi quickly spun around and with a fierce glare fixated her eyes on both Zetki and Kai who had dropped down from the branches above them. Seeing Kiminoru's motionless body behind Kairi, Kai gasped before yelling "What did you do to him!"

"He's not dead" Kairi admitted before reaching down to her belt and pulling out one of the three small scrolls she held "Kai Adel" she said surprising Kai.

""How…How do you…know my name?" Kai asked in a shaky, fearful voice.

"I am Kairi Belleza the top shinobi in Muerte. And I'm here for your life". Unrolling the scroll Kairi slammed her hand down on it and a white cloud of smoke popped out summoning a naginata, a long pole weapon with a large blade at the end.

"Prepare yourself!" Kairi said to both of them before she charged toward them with her weapon held firm in her left hand.

Both Kai and Zetki were frozen, but thanks to their harsh level of training their reflexes were beyond second nature, they were even more than instinct to them, both of them easily evaded Kairi's first strike before regrouping next to Kiminoru's body.

Kai quickly knelt down next to Kiminoru and closed her eyes as she placed her right hand over her chest and held her left hand over Kiminoru's while Zetki stood in a defensive stance between her and Kairi.

"How is he?" Zetki asked keeping his eyes on the woman who took down their teammate.

Feeling a faint pulse Kai's eyes shot open and she gasped "He's still alive, but barely. We need to get him out of here and away from her".

"I knew that part!" Zetki cried "But look at her" he growled keeping his eyes on Kairi "There's only a few scathes on her. No cuts, bruises and she doesn't have even the slightest look of fatigue on her, and she managed to take out Kiminoru alone, I don't think there's a way we can get away, and I really don't think we can beat her".

"Heiress!" Kairi called over to them catching both of them off guard. "It is only your life I'm after, I've no interest in your comrade or Kiminoru, just give yourself up now and they can go. You needn't fear death from me; I swear that it will be free of any pain".

Kai got to her feet and stepped next to Zetki meeting Kairi's eyes with her own fierce gaze "If you were only after me" Kai began with a mixed shaking voice of both fear and anger "Why did you do this to Kiminoru? Why didn't you just come after me and end it?"

Kairi didn't answer her, she remained silent while Kai's body began to shake.

"If you were able to do this to him you could've easily killed me without any trouble at all, but instead you showed yourself to Kiminoru and did this to him!" Kai couldn't control herself her entire body was completely shaking now; at this point she even had tears in her eyes "Now tell me why you did this to him!"

Kairi's eyes faltered, she looked at the ground as she opened her mouth "I..._I just wanted to see him again"_ Clenching her hand around her weapon Kairi glared at Kai "Its his fault for taking on more than he could handle!"

Kai gasped in fear as her body finally stopped shaking and froze once again.

"I told him right from the start I wasn't here for him, that I was only here for you, but he wouldn't stand aside. He insisted on getting in my way, he said that the only way I'd get to you was to kill him" looking past Kai and Zetki and at Kiminoru's still unconscious body Kairi continued in the same cold tone "Considering that he's still breathing, I'd say he couldn't back up his claim".

The second Kairi finished speaking a senbon flew right past her face, barley evading the weapon Kairi looked at Kai with widened eyes. Kai's right arm was held straight out; in a single instant she had reached into her needle pouch and thrown a poison tipped senbon at her target.

Feeling something warm and wet slowly drip down her face, Kairi ran the backside of her hand over it and saw a small smear of blood on her pale black glove. Kairi smirked, but her cocky smile was immediately removed when several large roots erupted from the ground and shot at her.

Evading the roots with graceful, almost dancing like moves Kairi feel back and used her naginata to cut down the roots that chased her.

"Zetki!" Kai said in an enraged voice.

Surprised to hear her tone Zetki looked over to his squad leader and gulped "Y…yea?"

"Take Kiminoru somewhere safe" Kai demanded.

"What!" Zetki yelled "No way! You're not seriously considering taking her on all by yourself are you? That's insane!"

"Do it!" Kai barked turning her head toward him and then looking back to Kairi "What kind of leader would I be…if I can't even protect a single person? I'll prove to everyone right now that I am worthy of being the next leader of Odore" violently clutching her fists together Kai's tone changed to an even more enraged tone "I'll defeat her and regroup with you soon, now go. And don't even think about arguing with me, got it!"

Zetki wanted to say something, he wanted to do something to stop her, anything, but he knew that he had no chance of taking of this woman alone he had doubts that Kai would even last a minute against her _"There's got to be something I can do. I can't let Kai face that woman alone, there's no way she can win"._

Kai's voice snapped him out of his thoughts "What are you still standing there for! Get going?" she ordered before charging over to Kairi forming handsigns for her signature jutsu "Earth style! Root binding jutsu!"

Again several roots erupted from the earth beneath them and shot at Kairi who evaded them just as easily as she had before. "This jutsu again? You really expect to beat me with this?" Kairi stopped in mid lunge and gasped as Kai appeared behind her with a senbon gripped firmly in her hand swinging it right at the side of her throat.

Turning her head slightly, Kairi just barely managed to avoid Kai's swing enough to give her room to twist her turn away from her. After turning away from Kai and with a single jump back Kairi had put a good distance between them _"Her speed…That shouldn't even be possible for someone of her level. Then again, Kiminoru was much faster than he was last time I fought with him. Whoever trained them must have put them through something difficult if their speed is like that if it wasn't for my experience in combat that would've been my last move"_.

Now holding her naginata with both hands Kairi set herself back in a battle stance and said "Very well then. If you insist on fighting me then I'll grant you that last wish".

Once again Kai appeared behind her, but this time Kairi was ready for her. Swinging the pole of her naginata back Kairi nailed Kai dead center of her chest making her stumble back, but the second she turned around to face her Kai had appeared behind her again and a single tree root had sprung out from the ground, wrapping its way around Kairi's left leg.

Kairi swore as she used her right arm to swing her naginata behind her Kairi aimed right for Kai's neck, but once she swung her arm out a second root shot out from the earth and wrapped its way around her arm before pulling it out and down.

"What? Impossible!" Kairi gasped as the Kai in front of her melted into a puddle of mud and dirt and the real Kai appeared in front of her with another senbon held in her hand.

With her right arm and left leg restrained Kairi couldn't dodge or evade the next attack she kept her cold stare, but didn't say anything as she made eye contact with her target.

Narrowing her eyes, Kai reared her hand back and clenched her eyes shut before lunging forward with the full intent of ending her opponent's life. Seeing her close her eyes Kairi took her chance and used Kai's hesitance against her.

Balling her restrained hand into a fist Kairi with all of her might pulled her arm toward her and ducked down evading Kai's senbon before she used her free hand to cut herself free from the weakened roots.

While still ducked under her Kairi swung her stance around, now on Kai's flank she reached up and grabbing a surprised Kai by the collar of her dark blue kimono shirt. While she held Kai's collar Kairi forced her chakra to flow through her hand and into Kai's shirt while simultaneously scrambling it to an unstable level before pushing Kai away from her and holding her hand out.

Stumbling back Kai caught her breath before seeing the way Kairi was holding her hand out, she was about to snap her fingers and she had seen Kiminoru use this technique several times.

* * *

><p><em>Kiminoru was flipping a kunai into the air and catching it as it came back down while he and Kai waited on Zetki to show up. "Basically what you do is you focus your chakra into the object your holding, but at the same time you have to scramble it into an unstable form something volatile" he said to Kai while holding the kunai out in front of him.<em>

_Was that's done you have to quickly use your chakra to form a fuse, a string or rope from your hand to the object you plan on using" he continued to explain "Now obviously chakra is invisible to the naked eye, but you have to see it with your mind's eye you have to remain aware of it otherwise it'll go off in your hand. Once you've got your fuse ready just throw it" Kiminoru paused to toss the kunai at a red and white ringed target hitting it in the outer ring "And then snap the fuse" he continued before snapping his fingers making the kunai explode shattering the wooden target._

"_Where'd you learn a technique like that?" Kai asked him._

"_I learned it from the person who trained me back in Muerte" he admitted "As far as I know me and her are the only two people that can use it. She said that no one else can do it other than us, I still don't know what she meant by that. I know it can't be a bloodline jutsu because she and I aren't related, so I always assumed it was just a well kept secret jutsu in her arsenal"._

"_You know you keep referring to her as 'her' doesn't this person have a name?" Kai asked him._

_Kiminoru lowered his head a little "Her name is Kairi Belleza. She was the one who trained me, and I guess she was the closest I had to a friend back there. She was actually the only person in the village that didn't look like she wanted to kill me, in fact I think she was almost protecting me the way she kept watching me while I trained alone. Actually now that I think about it she was the only person in that village who showed any kindness toward me at all"._

"_Well I guess it's nice to know that not everyone in Muerte is a heartless killer" Kai said getting to her feet and walking over to him._

* * *

><p>Kai stood there frozen by the sight of the way Kairi was holding out her hand. "Now heiress" Kairi began "Its time for you to die" Kairi snapped her fingers causing the collar and chest region of Kai's kimono shirt to explode as if they were woven from explosives sending her flying back several feet before she landed roughly on the ground.<p>

Coughing violently Kai tried to get to her feet, but she couldn't even make it to one knee, she was too injured to continue. Her chest and lower neck were severely burnt and scarred from that explosion add to it she had already exhausted a good amount of her chakra in the fight.

Lying on her back Kai looked up as Kairi stood a few feet away from her with her naginata's blade pointed right at the center of her throat. Kai stared up the pole weapon's shaft and into Kairi's eyes and she stood above her ready to kill.

Finally drawing her weapon back Kairi prepared to make the final blow, seeing the weapon being drawn back Kai felt her eyes fill up with tears before she muttered in a broken, fearful voice I'm sorry Kiminoru, Zetki. I wasn't strong enough to stop her".

What little sunlight there was left gleamed off of the naginata's blade before Kairi tilted it to the side and lunged it forward just as Kai slammed her eyes shut and yelled "I don't want to die!"

Waiting for the swift feeling of the blade cutting through her neck Kai laid there frozen in fear, but she felt nothing.

"What!" she heard Kairi gasped in disbelief.

Slowly opening her eyes Kai saw someone standing between her and Kairi, he had stopped her weapon with a single hand. Holding the naginata by the end of its shaft just under the blade, he was badly injured, his body and clothes all had scars, dirt and bruises all over in the initial shock of the moment she didn't recognize him, but once his headband fell from his neck to the ground between his feet she realized who it was.

"Ki…Kiminoru?" she muttered in the same fearful tone.

"How? How could you?..." Kairi was at a loss for words she was more surprised than Kai to see Kiminoru standing between them. What's more was that he had stopped her weapon with a single hand and he was holding her off without any form of a struggle.

"I told you" he panted in a completely exhausted and distant voice "The only way you're getting to her" Kiminoru looked up at Kairi showing his face "Is if you kill me".

Pulling his arm inward Kiminoru pushed it back out with all of his might knocking Kairi's weapon out of his range before he brought both of his hands back around and slammed them full force into her chest sending her stumbling back.

As Kairi stumbled back she dropped a smoke pellet to give herself some cover, but it didn't help her. Kiminoru was already behind her and had already grabbed hold of her arm and slung her around his torso and out of the smoke cloud.

Charging out of the smoke cloud after her Kiminoru immediately vanished from Kairi's sight and in the same instant appeared behind her and slammed his open palm into the center of her back stunning her. Bending him arm up Kiminoru attempted to drop his elbow on the back of her neck, but Kairi was ready for it.

Once Kiminoru dropped his arm down Kairi moved to the side and swung her own elbow out attempting to hit him, but instead she watched as he vanished as if he was never there and again in the same instant appeared beside her and ferociously brought his leg up nailing her in her stomach with his shin.

The impact was brutal enough to make Kairi cough up a small bit of blood, but she had managed to grabbed hold of Kiminoru's leg and dropped to the ground while twisted her body sending him spinning over her giving her time to get back to her feet.

Watching Kiminoru roll across the ground and stop on one knee he once again vanished within an instant and appeared right in front of her. Kairi didn't have time to evade his attack she closed her eyes waiting for the impact, but it didn't come. Instead she heard Kiminoru grunt in pain before he fell to his knees.

Taking the opportunity to put some distance between her and him Kairi jumped back and looked at Kiminoru's eyes as he stared painfully at her. Both of his eyes were glassy and looked like there was a small cloud of white mist growing inside them.

"_To think he's mastered the Shadow Ace at his age!"_ Kairi thought as she stared Kiminoru down _"Not even his father had mastered that jutsu at that age. Originally the Shadow Ace allows the user to increases his speed to the point that he creates a trail of phantoms that follow his every move to the letter. In that state one becomes so fast that they could stand still and one would perceive them as still moving until the phantom trail vanished. But in its advanced state, the Shadow Ace allows for instantaneous transportation between shadows. In a single instant he wraps from his shadow to another within his sight like mine. However that jutsu has a massive drawback, the travel between the two points is so fast that the user has to have his attack in motion before he makes the jump, and the other drawback is even worse. He moves so fast between the two points that he has to shut his eyes…otherwise the flash of darkness will cause him to go blind"_

Kairi took another moment to look at Kiminoru's eyes as he pushed himself back to his feet and muttered to herself "In his current state there's no possible way he can have enough chakra to make more than a single jump, but judging by the look in his eyes he won't be able to keep his eyesight if he makes another jump". Tightening her grip on her weapon Kairi silently said to herself "I have to stop him from making another jump; otherwise he'll lose his eyesight entirely".

Getting to her feet Kairi set herself in a battle stance, but immediately began stumbling before she dropped back to her knee and groaned. "Dammit!" she growled before grunting and then falling to the ground entirely.

Waiting to see if she moved at all Kiminoru got to his feet and kept glaring at Kairi's motionless body before he painfully walked over to Kai. Once he was back by her side he grunted loudly before falling face first to the ground landing right next to Kai who cried out his name just as Zetki finally arrived behind them.

Kairi was standing right behind him, she had faked her defeat and used an old jutsu to halt her body's respiratory system for a short time. Once Kiminoru had dropped his guard and walked past her she jumped up and knocked him out.

"You've really grown since the last time I saw you" she panted standing over Kiminoru with her naginata held firmly in her hand "But you should've known that you weren't going to be able to defeat me".

"Stop!" Kai cried before pushing herself up to her knee and looking Kairi in her eyes. "Please just stop it" she cried through tears "Don't hurt him anymore, please just stop. I'll…" Kai was interrupted by her tears as she lowered her head in fear "I'll give you my life. Just please don't hurt him anymore. Just leave him alone". Zetki had taken a step back he was too shocked by what he just heard to say anything and Kai was now fully crying "I'm begging you".

Kairi was stunned at Kai's words she looked at Kiminoru's body and then to Kai as she knelt before her crying in complete fear and sorrow. "Tell me why" Kairi began catching Kai's attention "Why are you so determined to protect him? Even at the cost of your own life you took me on alone and lost. And now you're begging me not to harm him any further, you're willing to give up your life in exchange for that".

Kai looked up, she had stopped crying, but her tears were still coming. Looking down at Kiminoru she stuttered as she spoke in a broken voice "I…it's because…" Kai closed her eyes as she tried to fight back her fear.

"Because of what?" Kairi demanded in a cold tone.

"Because I love him!" Kai cried before lowering her head again.

Kairi silently gasped as she looked down at Kai's head as she continued to kneel before her while Zetki seem just as shocked by her admission. Hearing Kai's words echo in her mind, Kairi gripped the pole of her weapon even tighter as she clenched her eyes shut and finally released her weapon causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke with a dull, audible pop.

Hearing the sound, Kai looked up just in time to see Kairi turn around and start walking away without saying a word.

"No way" Zetki muttered before he ran forward a few steps and loudly said "Hold up!"

Kairi stopped and barely looked over her shoulder at Zetki as he continued "You're just walking away? You could easily kill all of us right now and you're just going to walk away? Why? What's your reason for that?"

Kairi lowered her head and looked ahead of her "There's far more for me to gain if I let her live" she said in a pensive tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Zetki demanded "Is anyone else going to come after Kai?"

"No" Kairi said "No one else will come after her, I promise you that".

"So what did you mean by you have more to gain by letting her live?" Zetki asked still in an angry tone.

Kairi lowered her head for a second before looking up to the sky just as the sun's final rays a light were vanishing behind the horizon "When he wakes up" she began in the same pensive tone "Tell him I'm sorry that it took me so long to see. Tell him that for me, he'll know what it means".

With those final words Kairi kneeled down and vanished form sight in a whisp of white smoke leaving behind a suspicious Zetki, and a frightened Kai who was still kneeling next to Kiminoru's body.

"What did she mean by 'it took her so long to see'?" Zetki muttered before looking over his shoulder to Kiminoru's unconscious body "Just how well do they know each other?"

Zetki's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Kai start crying again, it wasn't as bad as it was when she begged Kairi to spare Kiminoru and take her life instead, but the built of emotions of the moment had finally taken their toll of both of them, Zetki's anger was flaring and Kai's sorrow and fear were both overwhelming her.

Kneeling next to her he placed his hand on her shoulder "Kai we need to treat his wounds now and get him to a safe place to rest" he told her.

Even through her current state of mind Kai knew Zetki was right, she quickly used the sleeve of her kimono shirt to wipe the tears from her eyes and said "You're right". Forming handsigns Kai placed her left hand flat on the ground and her right hand just over Kiminoru's chest "Earth style, earth's light jutsu" she said through what was left of her tears as she began healing Kiminoru's injuries while Zetki kept watch for any enemies.

* * *

><p><strong>AN.** And that's chapter 7, I really had most of this chapter planned out before I even wrote the previous chapter, but I decided to take a break before continuing, giving me time to enjoy a break from all of this. Regardless of how fun it is its tiring for me.

Well as always I hope you enjoyed it.


	8. A Woman's Determination

Slowly opening her eyes Kai looked around slowly before she set her eyes on Kiminoru who was still fast asleep. She had managed to stabilize his condition, but he was still a long way from recovery.

"You're finally up" Zetki said to her before showing himself from his hiding spot just a few yards from them "I was beginning to think I'd have to do everything myself".

Kai gave him a weak and sad smile as she lowered her eyes "Thank you Zetki, I'm sorry that you had to do so much on your own".

"Don't apologize, I mean its boring that I had to talk to myself and all, but there's nothing I wouldn't do for the two of you. You should know that by now" he told her before reaching into his bag and pulling out the Earth scroll they were given "It hasn't even been a whole day yet, but thanks to that woman it feels like we've been here a week already".

Kai smiled "Thank you".

Zetki looked down to Kiminoru most of his major injuries had been taken care of, but there was no way he was going to be combat ready anytime soon. "How long do you think he's going to lie there?"

Kai closed her eyes recalling how badly Kiminoru was beaten before she and Zetki came to his aide, and even more so when he returned to save her from Kairi. _"He did all of that for me"_ she thought_ "He's in this condition because of me"_.

"Kai!" Zetki barked snapping her out of her thoughts "Did you hear me?" he asked calmly.

Kai rubbed a small tear from her eye and looked over to Zetki "Sorry, guess I'm just not fully over what happened".

Zetki sighed "I know all of that was hard for you, it was for me to, but we can't stay here too long. We have to move soon".

"Right" Kai nodded before reaching down to Kiminoru to grab his arm just as Zetki did the same.

Both of them gently lifted Kiminoru up and placed his arms around each of their shoulders to support him before they both kneeled down and jumped into the tree branches to find a better place to hide.

"Hey Kai" Zetki began once they were on the move.

"Yes?"

"About what you said back there" Zetki began recalling Kai pleading with Kairi to leave Kiminoru alive. "What you said to that woman, did you…did you really mean it?" he finally asked her.

"Mean what?" Kai asked un-sure of what he meant.

"About how you feel about Kiminoru" Zetki told her "Do you really love him?"

Kai's face reddened and her eyes showed a small expression of fear as she tried to hide her face from him. Immediately recalling the heated moment when she cried her confession out to the woman who was about to kill her Kai said "I do".

"I see" Zetki muttered just as they dropped down to a small clearing and hid Kiminoru near a cluster of brush and over turned trees.

"Are you…" Kai began in a nervous tone as they set down their fallen teammate "I mean do you" she couldn't finish her thoughts. She loved both Kiminoru and Zetki, but her feelings for her friend had always been more of a brother sense than anything. She didn't want to hurt him, but she just didn't feel that way about him.

"I'm not sure" Zetki said to her "I mean, I love you I just don't know if it's that kind of love. You're my closest friend Kai and I'd never let anything happen to you".

Kai lowered her head again "I'm sorry" she said quietly.

"Stop apologizing" Zetki said in a mixed tone of anger and friendly "You never have to apologize to me, if that's how you feel I can't change it, but that doesn't mean we're not going to stay friends" Zetki's voice softened as he stepped over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders "What's more is you'll never make a good leader if you apologize for everything".

Kai clenched her eyes shut as she leaned into Zetki's chest and began crying "I'm sorry, I just…I just feel so helpless right now" she cried through a breaking voice "I did everything I could and I barely managed to scratch her. I'm just no good at any of this".

"Stop that" Zetki demanded "You're a great shinobi Kai. We're still young and we're still just genin so we can't be expected to be able to do everything right now. We'll get better, as a team and as individuals".

Kai kept her eyes on her feet as Zetki spoke to her.

Zetki continued "So stop thinking you're helpless or useless. You're going to be a great shinobi and lead our village one day, remember that. Everyone starts somewhere".

Kai tried to burry her face as far as she could in Zetki's chest before he stopped her and said "Look at me Kai".

When Kai looked into his eyes he told her "I know you'll get better. Reikahn sensei put us through all of that training because he knew we could become among the best out there. I believe we can and I know Kiminoru believes the same; you don't have to be so afraid all the time. We'll both be there for you if you need us".

"That's what's bothering me" Kai admitted "You'll both be there for me. I know that, but when I tried to be there for him I was useless".

"Stop it!" Zetki barked "I told you there was no way any of us would've been able to take her on. That woman is on an entirely different level than we are. So there's no reason you need to apologize or feel bad about it".

Kai stopped crying, but her tears kept running down her face "I know you're right Zetki I just…"

Kai's words were interrupted when they heard Kiminoru groaning next to them. Looking over to their friend as his hand moved up to his face they both jumped over to him and kneeled next to him as his eyes opened.

With his vision slowly coming into focus Kiminoru grunted as he tried to sit up, but a gentle hand rested on his shoulder and a soothing voice told him to lie still for a bit more.

"Kai?" he muttered as his vision was still blurry, just barely making out the silhouettes of his two friends.

"I'm here" Kai said to him softly "We both are".

Smiling weakly Kiminoru moved his hand and grabbed Kai's as it still rested on his shoulder "I'm glad you're alright" he said in a weak, fatigued voice.

Feeling his weak grasp on her hand Kai once again recalled how badly Kiminoru had been injured in his fight. "You had me worried back there" she said to him trying her best to sound tough about the matter, but even in his current state Kiminoru knew she was terrified.

"Sorry" he muttered before slipping back into an unconscious state.

"We should let him rest some more before we move again" Zetki said, Kai only nodded.

Zetki looked at her as she kneeled over Kiminoru with relieved eyes "I'll take first watch, get some rest" he told her.

Kai shook her head "No. I'll keep watch; you've done enough for now Zetki".

"Kai are you sure?" he asked her "You're still pretty beaten up yourself".

"I'll be fine" she told him "Just go ahead and rest".

Zetki turned around and lied next to Kiminoru to rest, mere moments after closing his eyes Zetki drifted to sleep.

Now alone and still exhausted from her fight Kai had to watch over both of her teammates and protect them against anything that would happen, especially Kiminoru, for whatever reason she had to prove that she was worthy of being the leader of Odore.

Remembering what Zetki had told her not too long ago, that she would become a great leader for their village one day, Kai looked over to him as he slept and nodded "Thank you Zetki. I will become the best leader the village has ever seen". Shifting her gaze to Kiminoru she felt a painful, but warm tug in her heart and placed her hand against her chest "I swear it to both of you and to myself" she muttered "I'll protect you and Odore".

A couple of hours after Zetki had fallen asleep, Kai herself had began to feel tired, her eyes were slowly becoming heavier and her vision blurred every time she let them start to close.

"No" she barked quietly "I can't fall asleep now" she told herself "I have to stay awake and protect them".

Feeling a hand rest on her shoulder Kai spun around and pointed a senbon needle at the throat of the person behind her.

"Easy beautiful" he said in a weak voice.

"Kiminoru!" Kai gasped surprised to see him standing next to her "You shouldn't be" she began before Kiminoru cut her off.

"I'll be fine as long as I don't overdo it" he said, sitting next to her and letting her lean her head against his shoulder "I really am glad to see you're ok" he told her "When I came to and Zetki was carrying me away I feared the worst and blacked out before I could get back to you".

Kai was confused, he blacked out before he could get to her? "But you were the one who saved me" she blurted out.

Kiminoru was clearly unaware of what she meant, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't remember any of it, so with a small, playful smile she recalled the entire few minutes of when he had come back to rescue her.

"You really don't remember?" she asked him to which he shook his head with a surprised expression.

"I don't remember any of that" he told her.

Kai smiled again "I guess it doesn't matter, we're all safe".

Kiminoru nodded "Fair enough, but we still have to get through all of this first".

"What did she mean?" Kai asked him "What did she mean when she told us to tell you that she's sorry it took her so long to see?"

Kiminoru shook his head "I'm not sure. But I know she won't come after you or me again. If she said she wouldn't pursue us then she won't. She's a woman of her word and will never break that word".

"Are you saying you trust her?" Kai asked him.

Kiminoru shrugged one shoulder "That's stretching it a bit, but sure let's go with that. She was the closest thing I had to a friend back in Muerte".

"Kiminoru" Kai began in a nervous, somewhat fearful tone.

"Yeah?" he replied looking down to her from the corner of his eyes.

"What you said back there when you stopped that woman from killing me" Kai hesitated before continuing "You said that the only way she would"

"I meant it" Kiminoru cut her off. "I meant it and I'll mean it each and every time someone comes after you regardless of who they are" Kiminoru turned so he could look her right in her eyes "I love you Kai and I'll do anything to protect you".

Kai was frozen for a moment as she replayed Kiminoru's confession in her head. Sure he had admitted that he really cared for her before now and they had even gone as far as to tease and flirt with one another, but for him to look her in the eyes and admit his feelings to her, she just felt light as air, almost as if she wasn't even on solid ground anymore.

Smiling, Kai looked back at him and said "I'll be sure I do the same for you". Leaning into Kiminoru she rested the side of her head on his chest as she closed her eyes immediately drifting off in his arms.

Once Kai fell asleep in his arms Kiminoru looked up to the tree tops, the forest was so dense he couldn't even see the sky. Everything around them was becoming increasingly darker leaving them exposed in the open.

Gently lifting Kai into his arms Kiminoru walked over to Zetki and set her down near him before using some of the shrubbery to conceal them while he hid in a small hole under an over turned tree. "We're off to a bad start, but we'll get through this" he said to himself keeping his eyes on his teammates and the surrounding area.

A couple of hours after he hid himself, Kiminoru saw something rustling around in the bush line ahead of him and in a single, swift and silent motion reached to his leg holster and drew the kunai knife he took from Anko, the exam proctor.

The rustling became louder and seemed to be coming from all around him, stealing his nerves and holding his breath Kiminoru waited for whatever was out there to come to him.

Getting a strong sense that someone already knew where he was Kiminoru left his hiding spot and slid the kunai back into his thigh holster "Let's see what you've got" he called out "Stop hiding".

The rustling stopped for a brief moment before starting again, three people came out from their hiding spot, team 8.

"Well what do we have here?" Kiminoru asked seeing them surrounding him.

"This doesn't have to get ugly" the boy with the small dog on his head said to him "Just hand us your scroll and we'll be on our way".

"First off Kiba" Kiminoru began, giving the boy time to wonder how Kiminoru knew his name "If I give you anything it's a swift boot in the ass, secondly its 2 against 1 and I've beaten those odds before".

Hearing the dog growl at him Kiminoru corrected himself "Excuse me I mean 3 against 1. Odds I've still overcome".

Kiba scoffed as he smirked arrogantly "You've got a lot of guts to take us on alone, Hinata, Shino. Akamaru and I will take this guy just stay out of this one".

Kiminoru returned Kiba's smirk with his own "This'll be fun" he chuckled setting himself in a battle stance "Before we begin I'd like to see the scroll you have with you".

"Not a chance" Kiba told him with a childish, leader like tone.

"Hmm" Kiminoru hummed "Well considering none of you have any marks or injuries" he began eyeing each of them "And taking into account that you refuse to show it to me I'm led to believe that you gave yours up already. How badly were you beaten?"

Kiba growled "We haven't lost to anyone, you want to see the scroll its right here!" he barked pulling the scroll out of his jacket's inside pocket.

"An Earth scroll?" Kiminoru asked blankly "You want me to fight you for a scroll I already have?" he swore under his breath "Forget it I'm not wasting my time" he finished before going back to the hole he was hiding in.

"What are you scared now?" Kiba taunted.

"Be gone wolfman" Kiminoru barked back.

"What did you call me?" Kiba snapped.

"Kiba" Shino said in a stern, silent tone as he glared at his teammate through his dark sunglasses "We shouldn't waste our time on this when we could be tracking down a Heaven scroll".

Kiba growled through his teeth before backing down "Fine I'll deal with you another time" he yelled at Kiminoru before running away with his team.

"Sure you will" Kiminoru said to himself in an over enunciated, sarcastic tone.

Several hours after Team 8 had left him alone; Kiminoru was finally becoming impatient at just staying in one place and had finally had enough of waiting around.

Climbing out from under the tree he walked over to Kai and Zetki and gently woke both of them "We should get going, wake up".

Slowly opening their eyes both of them looked up to him "What is it?" Zetki asked "What'd you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything you twit" Kiminoru replied "It's time we get moving otherwise someone will find us".

Holding his hand out Kiminoru helped Kai to her feet while Zetki yawned loudly before getting up himself. "Alright" he said stretching his arms behind his head "Nothing like a good nap".

"You know that's right" Kiminoru said before rolling his shoulders back "Alright we should get moving. I say we just head for the tower and ambush everyone we find until we get ourselves a Heaven scroll".

"That's actually not a bad idea" Zetki commented "But it's an obvious plan. Others will have definitely thought about it".

Kiminoru nodded "Yep, but now that we're all rested we can take them on easy".

Kai slammed her fist into her open palm and with a renewed sense of happiness agreed "He's right. There's no one that can take us on now".

Zetki stared at her, several hours ago she was in tears and questioning her worth and use as a member of the team and now she seemed ready to take on anything. _"My words must have gotten through to her"_ he thought before scoffing "I don't know how I've stayed sane around the two of you" he said trying to sound annoyed, but his tone clearly said he wouldn't have it any other way "Alright, let's go get 'em" he cheered "We'll take down everyone we see if we have to right?"

Both Kiminoru and Kai smiled at him, "You're damn right we will" Kiminoru said just as the sounds of battle reached them.

"How about that?" Zetki asked "There's already someone nearby".

"Let's go have some fun then" Kiminoru said to them before jumping over the brush line and running toward the sounds of battle with both Kai and Zetki right behind him.

Quickly coming to a clearing they hid behind a line of shrubbery to see Rock Lee fighting against the three genin from the Sound Village while an injured Sakura was behind him protecting both of her teammates who looked like they had it handed to them good.

"Well this just got interesting" Kiminoru muttered seeing the genin in the green jumpsuit holding his own against his three opponents.

"What should we do?" Zetki asked them "Help out or wait until they beat each other?"

Kiminoru and Kai both remained silent. "Guess it's the first one then" Zetki muttered remaining hidden as Rock Lee vanished and with super high speed appeared in front of the hunched over Sound ninja before kicking him high into the air.

"Such speed!" Kai gasped quietly as Lee knelt down and appeared behind the sound ninja that looked like a mummy, Dosu was the name on the file entrants file.

Hovering behind Dosu as he flew across the air, Lee tightened his fist and with bone straining force unclenched his fist forcing the bandages around his arms to come loose before they wrapped their way around Dosu completely mummifying him as Lee grabbed him from both sides and began twirling at a high speed toward the ground ready to piledrive Dosu headfirst.

"_He's got him"_ Kiminoru thought before a fissure of softened ground erupted below Lee and Dosu saving the latter from a certain lethal injury.

After his technique impacted Lee jumped back to Sakura's side before collapsing to one knee completely exhausted and drained.

Pushing and clawing his way out of the dirt mound Dosu looked to Lee with distaste "Impressive" he groaned painfully "If Zaku hadn't softened the ground for me I'd a goner".

Just as Lee forced himself back to his feet Dosu lunged over to him and swung his arm that was encased in the steel instrument which Lee easily dodged, but quickly collapsed to his knees screaming in pain as he clutched at his ear.

"Your attacks are fast" Dosu began as Lee's vision blurred "But ours are faster because they travel at the speed of light".

Dosu began explaining how his attacks work, even how the instrument on his arm worked while Lee was incapacitated, completely unaware that he was giving his secrets away to Kiminoru and his group.

Flying toward Lee again, Dosu threw out his machined arm forcing Lee to block it which only amplified the sound waves and Dosu channeled his chakra to direct the sound waves straight into Lee's ear completely incapacitating him.

As Lee fell to the ground unconscious from the unimaginable pain sent through his body and mind, from the sound waves Dosu advanced on him and raised his arm "Time to end it" he growled before Sakura jumped to her feet and cried "That's what you think!" before hurling several kunai and shuriken at him which he easily blocked.

"Ah" Dosu hummed "I'd almost forgotten about you".

Watching Sakura begin her fight against Dosu and his teammate Zaku; Kiminoru, Kai and Zetki had missed impressions of her. She threw another wave of shuriken only to have Zaku's attack blow them back making them useless once Zaku's attack allowed their female teammate Kin to get behind Sakura and grab her by her hair restraining her as Kin taunted her.

"Are we just going to let them kill her?" Zetki asked.

"Just stay here" Kiminoru whispered harshly. He didn't like seeing how one-sided this fight was, but for some reason he felt that charging in now would be a bad idea.

Kai watched Sakura as she began crying, she immediately felt a connection with her, and she could tell she was feeling completely helpless at her current situation. She wanted to help her, she just had to.

Zaku looked behind Sakura and began advancing toward her unconscious teammates with the intention to kill both of them.

Just as Zaku began walking, Sakura drew her kunai from her thigh holster and pointed it at Kin behind her.

"Do you really expect to hurt me with that?" Kin taunted as she pulled back on Sakura's hair again.

"It's not for you" Sakura said with a dark tone before quickly swinging the knife through her hair, cutting it off and freeing herself from Kin's grasp.

Now free Sakura swore to herself that she'd finish this battle for her team's sake that she'd protect them no matter what. Getting to her feet Sakura retreated via a substitution jutsu to flank Zaku.

Attacking Sakura's substitution jutsu Zaku realized it was a decoy and quickly looked for her again. Once seeing her he held out his palms and fired his attack again only to find out it was another substitution. "How long do you think you can keep this up?" he asked before Sakura appeared above him "Hah, so we're doing this again huh?" he said as she hurled a pair of kunai at him only for him to blow them back.

Was Sakura's decoy attack was deflected Zaku began looking around convinced that the one he just saw was a fake until he felt a drop of a warm liquid hit his face. Looking up he was pounced and leveled to the ground by the real Sakura as she stabbed a kunai into his forearm and bit into his other trying to restrain him against the ground.

"What are you crazy?" Zaku yelled freeing his arm and punching Sakura in the forehead trying to get her to let go of him.

"She's not going to last much longer" Zetki said almost yelling "We have to help her".

Finally forcing Sakura off of him Zaku scrambled to his feet and kicked her away "I've had enough of you" he yelled holding his arms out to her ready to strike the killing blow.

Getting to her knees Sakura watched through blurry vision as Zaku held his arms out, she wasn't finished yet, she could still fight.

"Slicing Sound Wave!" Zaku yelled before a grunt of pain followed immediately afterward.

Kiminoru had flown out from his hiding spot and slammed his open palm full force into Zaku's chest sending him flying back toward his teammates.

"Zaku!" Dosu and Kin gasped before Kai and Zetki charged them.

Quickly forming handsigns Kai preformed her signature jutsu and summoned several large roots from the ground to restrain Dosu while Zetki went after Kin and opened his canteen before throwing it at her and trapping her within a water prison jutsu.

"What is this!" Dosu gasped as the roots tightened their hold on him almost crushing him.

"Ambush successful" Kai said with a smirk as she kept her focus on restraining Dosu.

"Now this is how I like it. A fair fight one on one" Zetki laughed as Zaku began getting back to his feet.

Closing his eyes Kiminoru reared his arm back as if he was about to throw an uppercut and immediately vanished from sight instantly appearing crouched in front of Zaku, exactly like he did in his fight against Kairi.

Seeing Kiminoru appear in front of him in a split second, Zaku didn't have time to react before Kiminoru threw a full strength uppercut into his stomach launching him into the air.

With Zaku in the air Kiminoru quickly formed several handsigns and yelled "Lightning style! Single bolt jutsu". Throwing his hand toward Zaku, Kiminoru conjured his chakra and summoned down a bolt of lightning to strike Zaku in his back sending him crashing back to the ground.

Coughing up a good amount of blood Zaku tried to push himself back up, but Kiminoru was already on top of him. Within an instant he had appeared beside him crouched down and his hand just in front of Zaku's throat. Grabbing hold of Zaku's neck, Kiminoru lifted him up and in the same motion brought him back down, slamming him on his upper back taking the wind out of him.

Surprised at how easily Zaku was being defeated Kin began wondering if it was a good idea to stay in this fight and decided that if she didn't escape now she'd be finished.

Retrieving a senbon needle from her pocket, Kin drove it right at Zetki's palm inside the bubble stabbing him.

Feeling the needle pushed into his hand Zetki flinched in pain, losing his concentration just long enough for Kin to escape from his jutsu.

Once his water prison was broken, Zetki quickly pulled the needle from his hand and took a step toward Kin only to have her knee him in the stomach and run toward Kai.

Seeing Kin running toward her, Kai focused her chakra into the ground to summon another wave of tree roots, but her focus on Dosu was lost and he managed to free himself during the distraction.

Immediately realizing that Dosu was free, Kai ducked down to avoid Kin's swing and jumped back to Kiminoru's side just as Zetki did the same.

"Looks like it's a three on three battle now" Kai said before looking over her shoulder to Sakura. "You did a great job holding them off Sakura. Just leave them to us now while you look after your friends".

"_Kai!"_ Sakura mentally gasped in amazement before her eyes began watering and tears began dripping from her eyes.

"What are you crying for?" Kai asked her with a friendly, determined smile, catching Sakura's attention. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of; you gave it your all and protected your friends. Even with us intervening now, there's no reason for you to feel weak about it".

Kiminoru grunted with a smirk "Well said, I agree. After what she did there's no question she'll become a great shinobi one day".

Zetki nodded "No doubt, now let's deal with these guys and get back to work".

Zaku finally got back to his feet and groaned in pain "You arrogant little punks! You think you can beat me that easily!"

Kiminoru kept his smirked and grunted again as he held his hand out as if he was about to snap his fingers. "Boom" he said just before snapping them and causing the collar of Zaku's shirt to explode sending him an inch into the air and making him rear back.

"What!" Kin gasped just before Kiminoru and Zetki appeared in front of her and unleashed a flurry of strikes forcing her back and away from Dosu.

With no alternative other than to stay on the defensive, Kin kept evading each of Kiminoru's and Zetki's attacks believing that Dosu would come to her aide only to see that Kai was doing the same to Dosu backing him further and further away from her.

Tripping on a log that Sakura used for her substitution jutsu Kin gasped "They're separating us!"

As she feel back she looked into Kiminoru's eyes as he smirked and turned away from her, making a bee line straight toward Kai and Dosu.

Closing his eyes for a brief second Kiminoru cried out "Shadow Ace!" before throwing his eyes open and swinging around Dosu several times before appearing in front of him and throwing a wave of punches and kicks as Kai backed away to help Zetki keep Kin back.

"What is this!" Dosu gasped in a raspy voice, seeing the phantom repetitions of Kiminoru's attacks. _"Is this some kind of genjutsu? His attacks are so fast there seems to be several incoming strikes at once. Such speed can't be humanly possible, not even that green suited freak moved this quickly, it's almost as if he's not moving at all, I'm just seeing ghosts!"_

Keeping Dosu on the defensive, Kiminoru pressed his attack and when Dosu was in mid step, he curved his punch and scored a direct hit in Dosu's side making him hunch over allowing him to follow up by grabbing his head and kneeing him in the face knocking him back up into a rearing position before chaining it into a power punch into his gut making him hunch forward again and hack up blood under his bandages.

Once Dosu was hunched over again, Kiminoru shifted his momentum and brought his other arm up in a fierce uppercut knocking Dosu square on his back before he retreated to assist Kai and Zetki with Kin.

"No Dosu!" Kin cried seeing Kiminoru take Dosu down before turning toward her.

"Worry about yourself" Zetki yelled as he brought his arm up and punched her in her side just as Kai raised her leg and shin kicked her in the stomach.

Hunched over, Kin gritted her teeth in pain just before Kai swung around her and grabbed her by her hair forcing Kin to her knees just like she did to Sakura. "Remember this?" Kai barked at her "What you did to Sakura while you just mocked her. "There's an old saying" Kai continued as she pulled Kin's hair back violently "What goes around, comes around" she finished before yanking Kin to her feet and spinning her around by her shoulder.

Once she spun Kin around Kai swung herself in a full 360 circle bringing her leg up at the same time and fan kicking Kin across the face sending her to the ground with a small gash across the side of her face from Kai's heel.

With the battle over Kai calmed herself and exhaled sharply just as Kiminoru dropped to his knees, he wasn't fully recovered from his fight with Kairi and this little battle took away what strength he did get back.

"Kiminoru" Kai began stepping toward him.

"Don't worry I'm just tired" he told her "You and Zetki go help Sakura and Lee, I'll be fine".

Kai nodded "Zetki" she said turning to her friend who also nodded "Right let's get to it".

Appearing next to Sakura, Kai began treating her injuries as best she could while Zetki did the same with his medical kit for Rock Lee.

Kneeling next to Sakura as she began treating cuts Kai smiled at her "You did an amazing job Sakura" she said "You showed great determination in what you did".

Sakura lowered her head "Thank you, but I'm still too weak. I'm always being saved by someone; I'll never get any stronger if I can't do it on my own".

"That's not true" Kai told her as she focused her chakra to gather nutrients form the Earth below them and used them to heal the wounds on Sakura's body "You'll get a lot stronger than you are now as long as you keep your friends close you'll get stronger and stronger, just like I do with them" she said turning her head to look at Zetki who was tending to Lee and then to Kiminoru who was sitting on his knees trying to catch his breath.

Sakura stared at the side of Kai's face while she looked over at Kiminoru, but before she could say anything a voice called out to her.

Looking behind her Sakura quietly said "Ino" as she saw her old friend walking over to her holding her headband in her hand.

Standing next to Sakura, Ino handed her, her headband and kneeled next to her and held her hands out to her head "Your hair's a mess, hold still and I'll fix it for you".

"I don't know I think it's kind of cute" Kai noted after she finished treating Sakura's wounds "The way it's so uneven and just hanging in front of your eye, it's got a very dignified and powerful look to it".

Sakura tilted her head down to hide her face as Ino worked on fixing up her hair "Thank you, but I prefer mine to be tame".

Kai smiled again "That's fine to, I just felt like saying my opinion on it".

"Zetki how's Lee doing?" Kiminoru asked from the center of the clearing.

Zetki looked up to him "He's going to pull through, but he's not going to be in any shape to fight for at least a full day".

"Lee!" a female voice cried from the trees above them.

Dropping down from the treetop were Lee's teammates Tenten and Neji Hyuga.

"What happened!" Tenten asked seeing the defeated sound ninja and the condition of everyone around them.

"We had a party" Kiminoru blurted out "Got a little violent" he joked before getting to his feet "Anyway, I found a Heaven scroll on these guys" he continued, holding up the white labeled scroll.

"Seriously!" Zetki asked "That's just what we need".

Kiminoru nodded "Indeed it is". Kiminoru closed his eyes and instantly appeared at Sakura's side "But after what you've done" he began before setting the scroll next to her "I think you deserve it more than we do".

"Kiminoru" Kai muttered surprised by her teammate's choice.

"Alright, Zetki" Kiminoru began after straightening himself "If you're done patching Lee up you can hand him off to his friends. We need to get out of here".

Zetki nodded "Right, he's fine for now, just needs to rest and stay out of trouble".

Lifting Lee against his shoulder Zetki carried him over to Tenten and Neji before handing him to them and rejoining Kai and Kiminoru.

"See you guys at the next stage" Kiminoru said to all of them before he ran off with Kai and Zetki.

After they had left, Kai, Kiminoru and Zetki even though tired from their battle, felt like they could take on the world right now. The sensation from surviving their battle and helping Sakura brought all of them a sense of happiness, especially Kai because she now fully understood how Zetki saw her when she was in the same situation and even more because she felt like she understood herself better now.

"I'm really glad we got to help Sakura out" Kai said as she jumped through the trees with her team.

Zetki agreed "Yeah, she did great, but it's a good thing we were there. I don't think she would've been able to take on all three of them".

"Don't be so sure" Kiminoru interjected "I think she would've defeated them. But I don't think she would've survived afterward".

Zetki and Kai both eyed Kiminoru wondering what he meant.

"You saw the determination in her eyes right?" he asked them "There was no way she was going to lose without taking all of them with her".

Zetki chuckled "Heh, well if she's willing to do that for her friends than so am I".

Kai nodded "Me to".

Kiminoru smirked "I'd die fighting for the two of you".

After another large leap through the trees, the three of them zeroed in on a small group from the Hidden Grass village and dropped from the trees behind them, startling them.

Glaring at the three Grass genin, Kiminoru kept his smile and said "Kai, Zetki let's go!" just before he charged over to their targets.


End file.
